


Rip's Second Chance

by Overtone



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Bloodlust, Canon Divergence, Do-Over, Family, Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture, Rip Hunter-centric, Season 4 does not exist, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-01-04 00:10:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21188309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Overtone/pseuds/Overtone
Summary: "Rip?""A little busy at the moment, Sara.""Look, you didn't tell us that you are buying us some time with your life!""Listen carefully. This gambit won't kill Mallus. It will only delay him long enough for you to make an escape.""There has to be another way!""No, there isn't. It's alright Sara. I would, very much, like to see my wife and son again. I will miss you, captain Lance. You and the rest of the Legends. My one hope is that you will live up to that name. Goodbye.""Goodbye, Captain," Sara replies with tears in her eyes. While the Legends time-jump to Salvation, Mallus seeks the confrontation with Rip. He throws fireballs to him and claws at him, but the radiation of the unstable time drive doesn't let him hurts Rip."Quite ironic, isn't it? A time-demon who has run out of time!"Mallus roars provocatively, but Rip let the time drive implode.We know the story of Mallus, the Legends, and Beebo. But not the story of Rip. There was a very slim chance he survived, but not equal to zero. His memories travel back to a younger version of himself, giving him another chance at saving his wife and son. But sometimes, time wants to happen.





	1. The awakening

"Rip?"  
"A little busy at the moment, Sara."  
"Look, you didn't tell us that you are buying us some time with your life!"  
"Listen carefully. This gambit won't kill Mallus. It will only delay him long enough for you to make an escape."  
"There has to be another way!"  
"No, there isn't. It's alright Sara. I would, very much, like to see my wife and son again. I will miss you, captain Lance. You and the rest of the Legends. My one hope is that you will live up to that name. Goodbye."  
"Goodbye captain," Sara replied with tears in her eyes. While the Legends time-jumped to Salvation, Mallus sought the confrontation with Rip. He threw fireballs and clawed at him, but the radiation of the unstable time drive doesn't let him hurt Rip.  
"Quite ironic, isn't it? A time-demon who has run out of time!"  
Mallus roared provocatively, but Rip let the time drive implode.

Next, Rip awoke violently as if he had a nightmare.  
"Good morning, captain Hunter," his AI greeted him.  
Rip sat on the edge of his bed in amazement. What was that dream? A time-demon? That is a story for young time-masters, no reality! Right? It all felt so real, that Rip was de-orientated.  
"Hi, Gideon. Maybe a weird question, but when are we?"  
"We are in Central City, 2016. You told your Legends to meet you here today if they wanted to help you save Jonas and Miranda."  
Rip thought for a moment. "So miss Lance, mister Palmer, they all haven't been aboard the Waverider?"  
"I can confirm this version of the heroes and criminals haven't boarded this ship yet. However, they appear to be waiting outside. Shall I open the door for them?"  
"No, wait for a moment. Gideon, can you record dreams, or store them if they already happened?"  
"I can upload the brain patterns of everyone who enters the med-bay. From there, I can register dreams and record them. I can also store memories if you would like."  
Rip put on his trenchcoat and walked to the med-bay. "Gideon, I want you to prepare a secret file, only accessible to me," he said while laying down in the chair. "Copy all memories from the moment the Legends set foot on the Waverider till the moment I detonate the time drive. I want to know what that dream means."

While Rip laid down in the chair, an old man stared at a piece of paper, and then at the empty parking lot behind it.  
"Professor. This is the place." he was greeted by Leonard Snart.  
Alongside him, Ray Palmer, Sara Lance, Mick Rory, Kendra Saunders, and Carter Hall walked towards Martin and the sleeping other half of Firestorm. The others also looked confused at the emptiness in front of them. "I think we're being punked. Do people still say 'punked'?" Ray asked.  
Sara gazed up and sighed. "No."  
Mick looks at the silver-white convertible. "I see your buddy threw himself a going-away party."  
"Yes, I believe he drank something that didn't quite agree with him," Martin said semi-truthfully.  
As the clock struck twelve, Rip didn't show up. Even five minutes later they saw no sign of the Brit. "Isn't it weird," Kendra asked, "that a Time Master is late? I think we are getting punked."  
"So punked **is** being used!" Ray said surprised. "But I'm sure he has a good reason for it. Maybe he did a small mission in between?"  
"But then he would still be able to go to this moment and be on time," Carter mentioned. "If our captain really is like this, I don't want to think about how our hunt for Savage will go."  
"Apologies, mister Hall," a British voice shouted across the parking lot, "for being lost in thought. But I’m glad to see you've all decided to come. Well then, we can be on our way."  
“I ain’t footing it anywhere,” Snart complained.  
“A Time Master’s sacred charge is to do no harm to the timeline. Can you imagine what a timeship would look like in, say, Victorian England?” Rip explained.  
“Holographic indigenous camouflage projection,” Martin realized.  
“Indeed,” Rip grinned as he pressed a button, and in front of the group, the Waverider appeared. The group, besides the sleeping Jax, looked in amazement at the appearing ship in front of them. _It looks like the Millenium Falcon_ Ray thought, thinking about his favorite movie series from his youth.  
“It’s called the Waverider. It’s been my ship for over a decade. Shall we?” Rip proposed.

As the group entered the Waverider, Ray’s became even more amazed. “Whoa,” he chuckled, “I bet it uses ionic propulsion.”  
“I doubt that very much, given that even advanced technology wouldn’t be able to sustain an ionic reaction,” the professor parried.  
“It’s possible if you stabilize the quantum flux. You know, we actually covered this before, Professor Stein, when I was your student, many moons ago? Perhaps you remember my paper on subspace field mechanics?”  
“I don’t remember you, Mr. Palmer,” Martin said to the disappointed billionaire.  
“Oh,” was his simple reply.  
In the meantime, Rory had set Jax down in one of the seats. “Whatever you roofied him with, I’d like some,” he asked the Professor.  
“I didn’t roofie him!”  
“Oh, I ain’t judging,” the pyromaniac grinned.  
The hawks were also impressed. "I have never seen anything like this before," Kendra mentioned.  
"Neither have I, and considering I have 4,000 years worth of memories, that's saying something," Carter replied. "How does a vessel of this size function without a crew?" he asked Rip.  
Rip watched the three conservations play out, exactly as he remembered. Could it be? Could he be starting to relive the last eight years? Then he has the chance to set things right. He could…  
"Rip?" Carter interrupted his train of thoughts.  
"Yes, I'm sorry. I don't need a crew. I have Gideon."  
And with that the AI put on the holographic face, saying: "Welcome aboard. I am Gideon, an interactive artificial consciousness programmed to operate this vessel's critical systems and aid Captain Hunter in his mission."  
"Captain?" Snart asked unimpressed.  
"Gideon's been working on helping me locate Savage."  
"I thought you said Savage was pretty active in the 22nd century?" Ray proposed.  
"Perhaps engaging Savage at the height of his powers isn't the best strategy," Martin countered.  
"Indeed. Unfortunately, Savage has kept his movements hidden throughout history. Not even Gideon can determine where or when we can find him. But I have the next best thing: the man who can. Professor Aldus Boardman. Professor Boardman is the world's leading... well, only... expert on Vandal Savage. We're gonna pay him a little visit. Gideon," he said while walking towards the captain's chair, "plot a course for St. Roch, New Orleans, October 17, 1975. Strap yourselves in. Temporal navigation is not something one wants to be standing up for,"  
Rip warned the group while setting the right example. "Some of you may experience some slight discomfort. In very rare instances, there will be some, uh, bleeding from the eyeballs," he explained.  
"I'm sorry, what?" Kendra asked in horror.  
"The human body is used to time unfolding linearly, so nonlinear unfolding may cause some side effects," Rip explained as he pulled the lever. With that, the engine came alive along with the ship trembling, which caused Jax to wake up.  
"Oh. Jackson, I'm so glad you're awake. I didn't want you to miss this," his second-half said enthusiastically.  
"Miss what?" Jax asked, still groggy from the sleeping agent. "What the…" he exclaimed as he found himself locked in his safety restraint. Frantically he tried to open it and to get out.  
"Oh, I wouldn't unfasten those if I were you," Rip warned him, although understanding how he must feel. He felt the same in the dream in which he was a puppet of the Legion of Doom: riding along in something you don't want to go, but unable to change the course. But he needs Jax, he needs Firestorm for this mission to succeed.  
"Get me off this… whatever this thing is!" he pleaded.  
The others didn't pity Jax but rather found it amusing. "Good luck explaining this," Sara said to the professor.  
"I did him a favor!" he replied stubbornly.  
"He doesn't look all that grateful," Snart grinned.  
“Just hold on and remain calm,” Rip said. “All your worlds are about to change.”

The Waverider landed on a grass field on the outskirts of the city. Rip trusted Gideon to extract the landing gear and engaging the cloaking device. He had more pressing matters to attend to, namely the wellbeing of his crew.  
Heatwave vomited when they touched the ground. “Oh, I should have mentioned it before. Nausea is one of the side-effects of time travel, along with…” Ray stumbles on the ground. “... vertigo.”  
Martin blinked, took off his glasses, and blinked again. “I can’t see.”  
“And temporary blindness,” Rip continued as he waved in front of the old man’s eyes. “Oh, it should only last a minute. After all, that was a mere jaunt. The further back in time you go, the worse the side-effects. Better?”  
“It’s all relative,” the professor observes.  
"Good."  
"I can't believe you kidnapped me," Jax complained to Martin. "Hey," he spoke to Rip, "I want to go home."  
"Good news, then. 2016 will be around in, uh, 41 years," he said dismissively while turning to Sara and the two thieves. "Now, you three, feel free to make yourselves comfortable back here on the ship, while the rest of you are coming with me to find Professor Boardman."  
The three were most certainly not happy with that. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You're benching us?" Mick complained.  
"Yeah, I thought we were a team," Sara added.  
"This mission doesn't require your particular skill set, yet," Rip quickly explained.  
"Meaning you don't need anyone killed, maimed, or robbed." Snart, with exactly the same snarky remark as in his dream. This can't be a coincidence, can it?  
"Sure it's a good idea to leave these two unsupervised on a time machine?" Ray broke his train of thought.  
"Hey, haircut," Mick yelled, "deafness wasn't one of the side effects."  
"Don't worry, doctor Palmer, I have ordered Gideon that no one can fly away with this ship or do other things with it that, well, could destroy the timeline," Rip assured him. "Now, we better hurry up. Professor Boardman will die in less than 24 hours."  
"What is the point…" Ray began.  
"... in cutting it so close?" Rip couldn't help but finish the question. "That way, our influence on his life will have minimal effect on his life, therefore will have minimal impact on the timeline."  
"How brilliant," Martin said, who had thought the same.  
"And depressing," Kendra said. "How does he die?"  
Knowing what happened in his dream, Rip didn't want to tell them what likely will happen. Instead, he told them what he told in his dream: "Uh, he's found dead in his university from unknown causes. Come on. Are you coming?" he asked Jax.  
“I’ll stay put,” he replied agitated.  
“You’d rather stay with them?” the surprised old man asked.  
“They didn’t drug me.”  
“Point taken,” Martin realized.

With the two hawks and two scientists, Rip went to professor Boardman’s lecture hall. Like in his dream, Aldus Boardman turned out to be a son of previous reincarnations of Chay-Ara and Prince Khufu. While the others were surprised by this, Rip found himself barely moved by it. He had already witnessed it, one way or another.  
As their conversation came to an end, Aldus handed over a booklet with all the information he had on Savage. “A lifetime of research on Vandal Savage that all points in this direction. This should help you find him, and the vengeance that has eluded me all these years.”  
Martin opened his mouth to thank the fellow professor, but a panic attack prevented him from speaking up. “Jefferson…,” he was able to escape his mouth, “something’s happening to Jefferson!”  
_Chronos_ Rip thought. That was the other side of the coin: he had to confront his bosses again, with all their bounty hunters. “We seem to have a little problem back at the, uh, vessel,” he explained to the rest. “There’s an intruder. We really must be going now. Thank you for everything,” he said to Aldus as he turned around, only to be stopped by Kendra.  
“Wait. We can’t just leave him here.”  
“We have to get back now!” Rip tried to persuade the hawks, but they weren’t buying.  
“You said he’s going to die in 24 hours,” she brought up.  
“And we can stop it,” Carter said.  
Rip couldn’t believe his ears. “Are either of you a Time Master? I didn’t think so. I’ve spent years studying the implications of chronological alteration.”  
“Good for you,” Carter interrupted him, “but we’re not going anywhere unless our son’s coming with us.”  
“You realize that taking him with us can be the reason for his death?” Rip asked, thinking about what he saw in his dream. “That your decision is the cause of your son’s death?”  
“If he stays, he dies for sure,” Carter realized. “So he’s coming with.”  
Rip knew that he couldn’t convince him. However, he needed Carter for this mission to succeed. “Bollocks,” he exclaimed, “let’s go, all six of us.”

When they arrived at the field where the Waverider was parked, he saw his vessel taking heavy fire from the bounty hunter. Rip already discussed with the two hawks to engage from the air, to give professor Stein and doctor Palmer the opportunity to power up. He knew it had worked before, in his dream.  
Carter flew down with his mace ready to swing. However, this exposed his wings which Chronos happily hit with his rifle. With only one wing working, Carter crashed down, and his mace flew out of his hand. He tried to get up, but his arm didn’t work anymore. He looked up and looked right into the barrel. He realized his fate and closed his eyes for the inevitable.  
Then Kendra swooped down and kicked Chronos away. Rip quickly pulled his sidearm and shot Chronos as he tried to get up.  
“Cover me,” Martin yelled at Rip, “I need to bond with Jefferson.”  
“Cover me too,” Ray said as he followed Martin to the ship.  
Rip pointed his gun at Chronos again but didn’t pull the trigger this time. Kendra was in a fistfight with him, but being just awakened as a demigoddess, she fought poorly. With a few punches and kicks, Chronos knocked her down. He swung his firing rifle around with one hand, making Rip and Aldus duck in a reflex behind an old motor block. Then he took it in both hands and started firing at the running pair towards the ship.  
Out of nothing, a red car rode towards the Waverider and hit the bounty hunter. “We go out for one lousy drink, and you guys somehow manage to pick a fight with Boba Fett,” Snart commented as he, Rory and Sara stepped out with drawn weapons. With the added elemental firepower, the team tipped the scales in their favor. Sara struck the gun out of Chronos's hands, after which Snart and Rory fired at the bounty hunter, making sure not to cross their beams. Then the Atom and Firestorm flew out of the cargo bay and fired at Chronos, such that the three outlaws could take the hawks to the ship.  
"Go!" Rip yelled at Aldus, as he charged to the ship. When he reached the door, he yelled: "Firestorm, Atom, retreat! We're leaving." The two heroes blasted Chronos one last time and flew back. "Get those two to the med-bay," he ordered, looking at the wounded Carter and the unconscious Kendra. Then he looked outside and saw Aldus on his own running towards the Waverider. "No," Rip whispered as he grew pale. He aimed his gun at Chronos, but the harm was already done. The bounty hunter aimed at Aldus' chest and didn't miss. He was dead before his body hit the ground. Chronos then aimed at the timeship, causing even more harm. Rip shot back a few times as the door closes. "Get us the hell out of here!" he yelled at Gideon.  
"Course heading?" she asked.  
"Anywhere but here!"

Gideon took off and flew high into the air, out of reach for Chronos’ rifle. “Our cloaking shield and aft entrance have been significantly compromised, Captain.”  
“Yes, I can see that, Gideon. Station us in the temporal zone while I work on repairs,” Rip said grabbing his tools.  
“Temporal zone?” Ray asks.  
“Yes,” Rip said. He found himself timider than in his dream, even though the actions of his crew led to Aldus’s death and two wounded. He had already accepted more or less that they were a chainsaw, not the scalpel he wanted them to be. But that didn’t mean they could do whatever they wanted. “It’s essentially a time limbo,” he continued. “We can hide out there for a bit. Another temporal jump would risk revealing our position.”  
As expected, the professor found it ‘astonishing’. Meanwhile, both the hawks arrived at the bridge after a short visit to the med-bay. Carter's arm was relocated and Kendra regained consciousness, albeit with a headache.  
“Oh, there’s something you people don’t know about time travel? Have you any idea how much harm you could have done to the timeline? Bringing a family member from the past on the ship, had he survived? Breaking out and carousing around in the 1970s?”  
Kendra walked over to Rip and punched him in the face. “My son is dead because of you. Who attacked us?”  
“If he had stayed at the university, he still would’ve been alive,” Rip found himself objecting.  
“Cut the crap, Rip,” Sara said, “Who attacked us?”  
Rip sighed, but there was no point in keeping it a secret. Not telling the truth would only drive them away, and besides, they also stayed in the dream. So they will stay now too, right? “His name is Chronos. He works for the Council of Time Masters. My former employers.”  
“I thought you were a Time Master,” Sara mentioned.  
“Yes, I was. I relinquished my position as a Time Master when I commandeered the Waverider. Chronos was clearly sent to bring me in.”  
“You lied to us,” Martin said with clear disappointment.  
“Of course I lied to you. I needed your help… you all barely said yes as it was.”  
“What about the legends part?” Jax asked.  
“Ooh, you lied about that too, didn’t you?” Snart smirked.  
“I chose you all because, a hundred years from now, your lives have minimal effect on the recorded timeline as it is. I needed your help without disturbing the history of 2166.”  
“So, we’re the opposite of legends,” Jax concluded.  
“Now, yes. But joining this quest, you can become so much more. And I didn’t lie about the mission itself. Or the brutality and ruthlessness of Savage. Or my need for your help. I truly think that, together, we can stop his rise to power.”  
“I don't imagine you're the kind of guy who quits his job and takes on this kind of threat for altruistic reasons, so Rip, why don't you tell us: what did Vandal Savage do to you?” Ray confronted him.  
Rip sighed again, facing the memories of his loss yet again. “The Time Masters discourage marriage. They urge against procreation even more. A Time Master should be free of any personal entanglements that might compromise him. But...I fell in love, and we had a child. A boy. Jonas.”  
“Savage killed your family,” Ray realized.  
“He slaughtered my family,” Rip cried. “And thousands of other families. And that body that I swore an oath to serve turned a blind eye. They continue to turn a blind eye. I won't. The last thing that my child saw in this world was that monster's face. You can be damn well sure that when Savage dies, the last face he sees will be mine.” He realized he was screaming. After taking a deep breath, he continued. “I understand, given the circumstances, if you wish to return home. We can make the jump once the repairs are done.”

The team retreated to their cabins to consider their options. Rip followed their lead, but not to reconsider if he should continue the mission. He had something more important to analyze. “Gideon, please record my memories from today, and compare it with the same part of the other recording. How much do they overlap?”  
“I’ve calculated a 97.34% overlap between the two recordings. This percentage could have been higher if your actions coincided with the dream,” his AI said after a few seconds.  
Rip nodded. He had expected as such. Now he had to find the cause. “Gideon, what would happen to me if I let the time drive go critical?”  
“You mean in the very slim chance you survive?”  
“Indeed.”  
“You would be exposed by the drive’s Goodwin bosons, but there are no recorded events in which that has happened. You should take everything concerning time-travel into consideration.”  
“Is it possible that my memories could’ve gone back in time?” he expressed his suspicion.  
“If that were the case, then the bosons should have interacted with your hippocampus. Shall I perform a brain scan, captain?”  
“Yes, Gideon. When you’re done, we will plan our next steps. Steps to genuinely save Miranda and Jonas.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I came up with the Goodwin bosons as an explanation for time travel. I choose the name to pay homage to one of the creators for the character 'Waverider' in the comics: Archie Goodwin. Unfortunately, there are no particles that make time travel possible in real life.


	2. Getting things right (or Rip hopes so)

“Neural scan completed, captain,” Gideon announced. “As you thought, I found a high concentration of Goodwin bosons in your hippocampus. However, other parts of your brain have also been exposed to those particles.”  
“How bad is it?”  
“I’ve detected no abnormalities on the cellular level. It is however beyond my capabilities to determine the consequences on the subcellular level. I would advise you to let someone in on your current situation, Rip,” Gideon advised, carefully using his name rather than his title. They have been working together for the last ten years, and she has grown attached to him. As a person, not as her boss.  
“I already let you in, Gideon. That is more than enough for me,” Rip argued.  
“I mean someone from your team, Rip. I can monitor you when you’re aboard the Waverider, but you would be on your own out in the field. What if something happens to you out there, where I can’t be there for you?”  
Gideon had a good point, Rip thought. “But these people barely know me, at least not as well as I know them. How can I expect them to look after me when I’ve just broken their trust and when they have their own problems to sort out?”  
He already knew the solution, but Gideon answered his question anyway. “Regain their trust, captain. Help them sort out their problems, whatever those may be.”  
“You are right, Gideon, as always. Thank you,” Rip admitted.  
“You're welcome, Captain.”  
“Now," he sighed, "let’s see who has decided to stay." With Aldus killed before he had set foot on the ship and both Kendra and Carter wounded, their first encounter with Chronos was worse than the first time. He wouldn't be surprised if some chose to go back to 2016.

His fear turned out to be irrational. When he arrived at the bridge, he found the team waiting patiently for him. They all looked at him, waiting for him to give orders. “I hope you all have decided on whether you want to continue,” he started. "But I understand if you want to return to 2016."  
“Working together with the Arrow and the Flash gave us the best opportunity at defeating Savage,” Carter answered. “Chay-ara… I mean Kendra… and I, we need a team. We’re in.”  
“You’ve got us,” Jax said, speaking for him and Martin.  
“And me,” Sara added.  
“Well, I’ve always wanted to be more significant than an actual atom,” Ray chuckled, for which he received multiple glances. “I’m in too,” he added quickly.  
“And our malcontents?” the professor asked.  
“I like killing people,” Rory said.  
“We’re in. For now,” Snart concluded.  
Rip couldn’t believe his ears. The whole team has decided, again, to help him out! A grin appeared on his face. “What’s so funny?” Mick asked.  
“I just didn’t expect every one of you to continue,” Rip admitted. “But that means we can truly begin hunting down Savage.”

“Vandal Savage has become immortal because of a meteorite crashing in ancient Egypt,” Rip began his exposition, “which was made of so-called Nth metal. The radiation gifted Vandal Savage with immortality and made sure you two keep reincarnating. Now, the reason Vandal Savage keeps hunting you is to take the energy from you, which keeps him alive and makes him more powerful.”  
“Why are you telling us this?” Kendra asked. “We already know this.”  
“The thing you don’t know yet is that the radiation also affected innate objects which were present at that time. The objects affected can, among other things, release the energy within a living body. Combine that with Savage and you two being able to absorb that energy…”  
“Kendra or I have to deliver the killing blow with an object from our first lives, in order to kill Savage,” Carter realized.  
“Astonishing,” the professor answered. “His weakness is the very thing that granted him his power.”  
“So we’re going to ancient Egypt?” Ray asked looking forward to it.  
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible. See, mister Hall, miss Sanders and I all three have been there. If we go there and meet our former selves, time will fold in on itself, creating a temporal vortex. No, we need to get such an item another way.”  
“Wait, you were there too?” Kendra asked.  
“Why didn’t you kill him when you had the chance?” Sara added.  
“I - I hesitated. I had him dead to rights and I hesitated,” Rip said as tears welled up in his eyes.  
The group fell silent upon hearing that. He was so close to saving his family but failed because of his humanity. “Hey, don’t blame yourself,” Sara supported him. “Taking a life isn’t easy, especially the first time.”  
“No problem for me,” Mick commented, which deserved him some angry glances from the ladies.  
“Is there another way of retrieving an item from your first lives?” Sara continued.  
“There is. We found the location of the Amon dagger in 1975, which professor Boardman believed to be present at the time of your first deaths,” Rip said while putting on a hologram of said weapon. The original newspaper was still in professor Boardman’s pocket, but the risk of returning to his body, to Chronos, was too great. Instead, Rip had requested Gideon to construct the hologram based on his memories. “It was bought on an auction by a Russian man named Sasha Mahnovski.”  
“I recognize this dagger from our first life!” Kendra exclaimed. “If we could get that dagger …”  
“We have a weapon to finish him,” Rip finished her sentence. “Indeed! Gideon, plot a course for this man’s house. Mister Snart, mister Rory, prepare yourself to retrieve that blade.”  
"Wait, you let those criminals go on their own? I'm coming with!" Ray objected.  
"No doctor Palmer, I need you to stay behind," Rip said while thinking about his future's past. "Mister Snart and mister Rory are most fit for the job, and you have … another moral compass."  
"And why should I not come with? I can keep them in check! We can return the dagger afterward, but I doubt that would be the only thing they steal."  
"Did not think about it, but thanks for the advice," Leonard said sarcastically.  
"We got this, pretty."  
Rip saw from Ray's expression he still wanted to come with. "Dr. Palmer, you and I stay behind with Firestorm and miss Lance in case backup is required. We keep contact via coms, so we know what happens in that house. You three will watch what happens, while mister Jackson and I will work on repairs. Mister Hall and miss Sanders, you two need to rest. I want you in perfect condition once we're able to take on Savage.”

Ray retreated himself to his cabin to change into his Atom suit, while Rip handed out coms. "Everything you say will be recorded and sent to the rest, so please mind what you're saying," he warned his team.  
Carter looked puzzled at the small object between his fingers. "How do these work?" he asked.  
"Oh, just put them in your ear, and if you want to communicate, simply press on it. Pressing again turns it off. However," he quickly adds, "as captain I can order Gideon to overwrite it, turning it on and off as I see fit. A little precaution if you will."  
"So you can irritate us until we finally answer," Snart remarks.  
"Precisely."  
Dusk had already settled as the two Rogues departed the ship and headed towards the mansion. "Gentlemen, status," Rip asked.  
“I'm seeing motion detectors on the ground floor. Hardware on the doors looks standard issue,” Leonard commented.  
“I can’t see any smoke alarms," his partner added.  
"Just stay close. I saw at least three armed guards on the perimeter," Leonard said to his friend.  
"Right, boss."  
"Alright, keep us notified when you enter the mansion. Spend as little time as possible there, in case the owner returns."  
"Easy, Englishman," Mick replied. "This ain't our first burglary."  
"Alright, I trust you will be fine. We will be standby," Rip sent the two off. "Gideon, put everyone's coms on the Waverider on receiving."  
"Coms settings altered, captain."  
"Now, mister Jackson, let's teach you how to repair a time machine."

Jax somehow amazed Rip again by how well he picked everything up. He already let him repair the Waverider after defeating Savage the first time. Back then, he was doing exquisitely, but this was somehow even better. Rip had to explain everything barely once, and Jax did the repairs without a hitch. "I must say you're doing a remarkable job, mister Jackson. You're doing better than most trainee Time Masters."  
"Thanks. It's actually not very different from a car, you know, if you think about it. That's why you wanted my help, right?"  
His insight surprised Rip even more. "Yeah, of course," he said hastily.  
"But you had another reason to ask for my help," Jax noted.  
He was most certainly not dumb, Rip had to admit. "Have you noted anything about the team I have assembled, mister Jackson?"  
"Besides all being nobodies in the timeline?"  
"Yes… Sorry to have brought that to you like that. It must have kicked in badly. But do you notice anything else besides that?"  
After a moment of silence, Rip continued. "There are many pairs. Two scientists. Two hawks. Two thieves. Because if one is taken down in any way…"  
"The other can still accomplish the task," Jax finished the sentence.  
"Precisely. Now, I'm the only one who knows how to repair this vessel. What will happen if I can't repair it when it gets damaged again? It’s good to have a mechanic on board, and I would like that to be you.”  
He was flattered by the offer. "You thought about everything, didn't you?"  
"I'm a Time Master, mister Jackson. I constantly think about the future, in particular, my own, and... it occurs to me that future might not involve me being aboard this ship, and I need someone to know its secrets in my absence.”

While the ship was being repaired, the thieves entered the house and found the trophy room. "Break the cases from above," Leonard pointed out to his friend, looking at the wires from the pedestals. "Lifting it or knocking it over will trigger the alarm."  
"Everything alright there?" a British voice asked in their ear.  
"A simple break-in like this? Only an idiot could screw this up," Leonard answered.  
"Yeah, like pretty," Mick added. "Idiot would've tapped into the dummy box outside."  
"Gentlemen, as I already said, everyone can hear every insult, including doctor Palmer. I urge you to ease down on him,” they got corrected by Rip.  
“Oh, I know,” Mick admitted, “I don’t care.”  
“Have you found the dagger?” Sara asked as Rip was stumped in disbelieve.  
“Almost, Blondie,” he answered.  
“Just give us five more minutes to make sure it is coming with,” Leonard added.  
“You’re robbing that man’s house empty,” Martin concluded.  
“Oops, busted!” Leonard said scornfully. What could the rest do to them? They needed the blade, so they couldn’t leave them behind in 1975.  
He only counted Ray out. “That’s enough,” Ray said while flying out of Mick’s pocket and growing to full size. “Give me the dagger, and put the rest back where you got it,” he said with blasters pointed at the two thieves.  
Both thieves let their trophies fall and pulled out their guns. “Stand down, cowboy,” Leonard threatened him. “Deliver it to the Waverider if you want. But we’re taking the rest!”  
“Doctor Palmer, stand down!” Rip orders. “The dagger is the priority. Forget about the rest!”  
The three in the mansion ignored the captain’s orders. Instead, Ray disarmed Rory with a quick jab and Leonard fired his gun at the Atom. He raised his arm such that his suit took the hit and not his face. Mick dived under the billionaire’s arm and tackled him, crashing into one of the pedestals.  
With a loud alarm, a cage fell from the ceiling and trapped the three. “What happens over there?” Rip demanded.  
“Your boy scout fell against one of the pedestals, so the alarm went off and a cage fell,” Leonard said angrily. “We’re trapped.”  
“Only because Mick tackled me,” Ray protested.  
“Who started the fight, dumbass?” Mick replied.  
“I don’t care who’s fault it is; find a way to get out of there!” Rip yelled through the coms. “Firestorm, miss Lance, we’re heading out.”  
“Why?” Sara asked.  
“To buy the gentlemen some time before they become a fish in a barrel. Oh, and you two stay here,” he said to the hawks as they rose. “You still need to rest from your injuries. I don't want to lose you to this fiasco.” Again.

“I want to kill him,” Mick said as he glanced over to Ray.  
“Get in line,” his partner answered, “but he’s the only chance of getting us out of here, so we need to keep him alive.”  
“Really?” Ray asked.  
“Found anything, pretty?”  
“Well, I can’t shrink and disable it from the outside,” he started, “because someone shot my shrinking device.”  
“Only because you attacked first” was Leonard’s simple reply.  
“Likewise, my blasters are also damaged and can’t be used. So I am powerless, and we can’t go anywhere.”  
“I’ve escaped numerous prisons. Ain’t gonna let this one hold me either,” Leonard said defiantly.  
He played it cool, but Mick wasn't so chill. “Aargh,” he yelled as he fired his gun at the cage. "Burn!"  
"Be careful!" Ray exclaims. "You can set the entire mansion on fire. You can burn us alive." But then an idea formed inside his mind. "Mick, stop with firing. I have an idea of how to break out of this cage.  
If you two take turns firing at the bars, the atomic structure will weaken due to the thermal expansion and contraction. My suit should be capable of breaking the weakened structure."  
“English!” Mick yells.  
Ray sighs. “Heating and cooling the metal will make it break more easily,” he said dumbing it down for the pyromancer.  
“Aah,”  
“Impressive, boy scout,” Snart praised him. “Imagine what else you could do with your knowledge.”  
“Yeah, imagine bank vaults!” his partner said enthusiastically.  
Ray’s eyes opened wide when he heard it. “Think about it,” Leonard said. “Let’s go to work.”  
Then the front door swung open with a loud bang.

They weren't the only ones who heard the alarm going off, Rip noticed. As he and Sara ran towards the mansion, with Firestorm flying overhead, many guards were chasing the source of the sound. "Firestorm, see if you can cut the group off. Let them focus their attention on us, rather than the three inside."  
"On it." He flew up and aimed two fireballs between the house and the men at the front. The guards only ran faster than he thought, and one got on fire and several others got knocked back by the heat. _Careful, Jefferson!_ the old man said in his head. _I don't want their blood on our hands._  
"It was an accident, Grey," Jax protested. "Besides, we have their attention now," he said as bullets flew all around him.  
_Wonderful. You're killing us!_  
"They're not sharpshooters, and we've got Rip and Sara," said the irritated Jax. "We'll be fine."  
Sara meanwhile had crossed the distance between her and the group and hit them with her batons. She kept turning, like a whirlwind, while her legs, batons and blond hair hit everyone on its way. Shooting at her had no use, for they could just as easily hit one of their colleagues. For Rip, it was a different story as his marksmanship was far superior to the guards. He kept some more distance and took out anyone who wanted to shoot either of them.  
"Rip, I think the owner has arrived," Jax said through the coms. "Tall guy, long black hair with a beard, long blue coat."  
Rip cursed under his breath. "Firestorm, give him everything you got," Rip yelled.  
"Why?" Sara asked.  
"Because it's Savage."

Firestorm landed about twenty meters before the immortal and readied two nuclear blasts. "Stay back," he threatened Vandal Savage.  
"And why would I?" he asked calmly. He didn't stop walking, however. "It seems like you're the one trespassing, together with that girl and, ah, Gareeb."  
"Who?" Jax asked in confusion, but that was when Savage struck. From under his coat, he grabbed two knives and threw them at the nuclear man. _Jefferson, look out!_ Martin screamed inside his head. In a reflex, Jax emitted the blast and disintegrated both knives. The other he threw directly at Savage. It hit him right at the chest and burned the grass around him. It remained silent for a few seconds. "Did we kill him?" Jax asked while trying to peer through the steam and smoke.  
"No, you merely wish you did," Vandal said as he stepped through the smoke. His clothes had a gaping hole at the chest, but his body was still intact. The red glow of the burn was already fading away. _Captain Hunter explicitly stated you should throw everything you got at him, Jefferson!_  
"Shut up, Grey!" Jax yelled at him. "I did."  
_Then why is he still standing?!_  
"My turn," Savage said while drawing two daggers, and with one smooth motion, he threw them between Firestorm’s eyes. Jax froze in terror, his sportsman’s reflexes failing him. He saw the daggers slowly creeping towards his eyes. _Jefferson…_ Martin warned him with great panic in his voice.

Another object came into vision. Metal clashed against metal and the daggers disappeared from his view. Next, a shadow collided with the immortal and he fell backward. “Carter!” Jax exclaimed.  
The demigod quickly grabbed his mace again, and with the Amon dagger in his other hand, he attacked Savage in a flurry of strikes. But Savage also got quickly on his feet and grabbed two daggers himself. The two danced around each other, attacking and parrying at a dazzling speed.  
Firestorm meanwhile sought an opening, fireballs ready in his hands, but couldn't find any. "Carter, when I give the signal, move to the right. I'll blast him to give you an opening," Jax whispered. He didn't want Savage to hear his plan but trusted his coms would deliver the message.  
"Mmkay," Carter grunted. He still wasn't cut by one of the daggers, but that wouldn't last long. His deflections became slower and his arms were already aching.  
"Now!" Jax shouted as he threw a fireball at the immortal. Carter somersaulted under Savage's swing and cut the tendon of his ankle. Firestorm launched himself forward and grabbed Savage's wrists while Carter rose behind him. "Say hello to Ammit for me," he whispered as he placed the Amon dagger on Savage's throat.  
Savage twisted and pulled in order to escape Firestorm's grasp. "Quickly," Jax yelled, "I can't hold him much longer!"  
Then Carter's body shocked three times and fell lifelessly off the back of Savage. Behind him, Jax saw a figure with a smoking gun, wearing futuristic armor and helmet, concealing his identity. Chronos.

Without the demigod behind him, Savage broke free from Firestorm's grip.  
_Get out of there!_ Martin yelled.  
Jax flew up and headed back to Rip and Sara. "A little backup, guys!" he said through the coms.  
Rip shot the last guard down and turned around. He looked at his immortal enemy and saw a glow transitioning from Carter's body to Savage. "Oh no!" he said. He had hoped so much he could minimize the number of fatalities this time around, so Carter's death was painful to see. Then he saw movement behind the body; Chronos walked over to the three of them. "What is he doing here?" he asked in disbelief, to no-one in particular. Chronos wasn't here the first time around.  
"Killing Carter, among other things," Jax commented with audible frustration. They were **this** close to killing him, and because he showed up, 50% of the people who could kill him was dead.  
The door of the mansion swung open and the three imprisoned ran out. "Where are those who we need to kill?" Snart asked.  
"Not kill, hold up," Rip replied. "Snart and I focus on Vandal Savage, Mick and Sara, fire at Chronos. Raymond, can you fly?" The Atom nodded. "Retrieve the body. Firestorm, take the dagger and the mace. Go!"  
The team followed their orders as told, to Rip's surprise. Sara grabbed two pistols from the guards and aimed at the bounty hunter. Mick already fired at him, happy to burn things again.  
"Fire at his right leg, Leonard. Make sure he can't move as fast as usual," he gave instructions to his partner. He fired himself at Savage's left ankle, which wasn't fully healed after Carter had cut it. His left leg collapsed, whilst his right leg stayed straight inside the ice. He wouldn't be moving for a while. Firestorm and the Atom waited a moment, but when the space between Carter with his weapon and Savage and Chronos was large enough, they charged in. Ray grabbed the body by the armpits and flew back to the Waverider. Firestorm quickly blasted the bounty hunter and grabbed the mace from the ground. However, there was no dagger.  
"Ehm, Rip? I can't find the dagger."  
"You've got to be kidding me," he exclaimed. What could he do now? Most likely, Savage had taken it back when Carter dropped it. With him dead and Kendra wounded, only Sara would have the potential to take it. But even when he couldn’t walk, Savage was a force to be reckoned with.  
“Everybody, fall back!” Rip ordered as Chronos closed in on them. “I rather lose the dagger than lose another life!”  
“How are we going to kill him then,” Sara asked.  
“We’ll find a way. Now GO!”

The Legends retreated to their ship. Vandal Savage knelt on the ground, unable to stand with one leg encased in ice and the other wounded. No help from him, Chronos thought. The robot man already had reached the cargo bay of the Waverider, with the hawk in his arms. Behind him, the burning man flew inside with a mace in his hand. No dagger. A quick scan of Vandal’s coat revealed that he retrieved it. Good. At least their mission had failed.  
But there was no victory in their failure. Only accomplishing his own mission would bring him satisfaction, which started with bringing him. Only their lead was too great to catch up with them. So he shot. Hitting any of them would make the others stop, and he could take him in. He aimed, but even with the visor of his rifle, he wasn’t able to hit them. As he lowered his weapon, he saw the vessel taking off. “Bollocks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long! I had a hard time writing the fight scene, and balancing study and an internship doesn't help either. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> FYI: Ammit is the creature in Egyptian mythology that eats a person's heart after death if it's heavier than a feather, i.e. you've been a bad person.


	3. Facing your past

Why couldn't he just have stayed dead? Rip thought as he stared at the ceiling above his bed. He had given the team the night off to process what had happened. Or maybe he had given himself the night off to evaluate what had happened. He couldn't decide.  
He had quickly spoken with Jax when they had returned. He heard how close they've been to killing Savage. And then he showed up. Chronos. Mick Rory.   
He should have known better than ignoring his former bosses. Chronos' appearance in St. Roch should have warned him enough for that. But why didn't he act upon it?  
Because he didn't appear at Savage's mansion the first time, Rip realized. He had assumed they would only face Savage if the break-in took too long. And now Carter had paid the price for his recklessness.  
He shouldn't do that anymore. Chronos isn't as dumb as Mick pretends himself to be. Always keep someone on the lookout, he made a mental note. Stick together. And take Chronos out as soon as possible.  
But what about Mick? He couldn't send him away. He had done nothing wrong, at least nothing more than some others. But he would rebel eventually, Rip was certain of that. When did it happen the first time around? He didn't know for sure, but someone else did.

He jumped out of bed, quickly dressed in a shirt and some trousers, and walked over to the library. On his way, he passed by the rooms of his team. Mick was loudly snoring, and Leonard, Jax, and Martin were also asleep. Kendra was sobbing over the death of her lover. He first suggested to keep Carter's body in the Med-bay until they could bury him, but she pleaded he would stay in her room. Her memories of their love came back after all. In the next room, he heard some electricity spark. No doubt Raymond was fixing his suit, after it being hit with the cold gun.   
No sound came from Sara's room, however. He assumed her to be asleep as well, but then he heard a sound coming from the gym. As he opened the door, he found her sparring with a dummy. She already had trained here for a while, Rip noticed. She glittered in her sweat, and the sports bra, pants and braid all stuck to her skin.  
"I think he has lost by now," Rip joked.  
Sara turned her face wildly to his, being scared by the sudden sound. "Oh hi," she greeted him as she pushed a loose hair out of her face, "didn't hear you come in."  
"Always mind your surroundings, miss Lance,” he lectured her.  
“I know, I know. Ra’s taught me that exact line numerous times. It’s just...” She turned around and put her hands at her hips. "I don't know. Maybe I should let go of what I learned in Nanda Parbat."  
"Let go of all the techniques you learned there? Throw away all the maturity you gained since then?"  
"You wouldn't understand," Sara answered.  
"Try me," he challenged her.   
"No, I don't want to talk about it," she said as she walked away.  
Rip collected his courage with a deep breath and confronted her. "It's the bloodlust, isn't it?"   
Sara stopped dead in her tracks as tears welled up in her eyes. "How do you know?"  
"Well, it's a common side effect of using the Lazarus Pit. I did my research on everyone on this ship, including you, Sara. I know you're struggling with it."  
"You don't know anything!" she yelled in reply. "You don't know how hard it is to take on all those guards when you want to kill them! When the only thing that keeps you from executing them is your own willpower!"  
With pure rage, she stormed over to Rip and pushed him against the wall at his throat. Rip struggled for breath but waited with fighting back. It would be much more valuable if she reverted back herself.   
After a few seconds, the look in her eyes changed. Rip no longer saw anger, but rather guilt and fear. She quickly released him when she realized what she was doing. "I'm so sorry," she ran off with tears streaming down her face.  
Don't be, Rip thought. You need help. My help.

As Rip continued his nightly walk to the library, he kept rubbing his throat. Damn, that hurt. He knew he couldn’t blame her, but she would be a liability with that curse. She needed to be cured, like the first time. How did she regain control then?  
“Evening, captain Hunter,” Gideon greeted him when he entered the library. “Is there anything I can assist you with on this late hour?”  
“Yes, Gideon, I need you to analyze my recorded memories again. It concerns miss Lance in the time till Savage’s defeat. Somewhere in that period, she learned to control her bloodlust. When was it, and how did she do it?”  
Gideon remained silent for a while. "I cannot say for certain, captain, but it appears the bloodlust didn't affect miss Lance after her time in the League of Assassins."  
"Did she mention how it happened?"  
"Negative, captain."  
"Bollocks!" He slammed his hands on the table. Of course, he had bad luck. God wouldn't make things easy for him, would He?   
Going to Nanda Parbat wouldn't be an option. If they would go to before Sara was resurrected, Ra's would either learn they were time travelers or wouldn't help them at all. The only reason he had let them go the first time was that he learned they were from the future. And after she was resurrected, well, he was dead himself.  
"If I may be free, I have deducted a way of curing miss Lance."  
"Do tell, Gideon, do tell!" Rip said enthusiastically. He really could use some good news right now.  
"The Crescent Order kept a substance called the Lotus, which works as an antidote to the Pit's side effects. Administrating that to miss Lance should counteract the side effects of her bloodlust."  
"Excellent work! Now, where and when can we find this Lotus?"  
"I've calculated an 82% chance of retrieving a vial in 2019, Sedona, Arizona. In this place and time, three friends of miss Lance were handed the Lotus to destroy the Lazarus Pits around the world. Requesting them to give the Lotus has the highest probability of success."  
"Thank you, Gideon," he said as he exhaled deeply. He hadn't noticed he kept his breath from the tension, but he was more nervous than he would like to admit.  
With one problem sorted out, Rip moved on to the next. “Gideon, can you summarize for me why mister Rory decided to become Chronos?”  
“Mister Rory never appeared to be on board with the mission. However, after the events of Star City, 2046, he openly confessed he wanted to leave. Mister Snart then took mister Rory to an abandoned place in history and left him behind. After a few weeks, he was pick up by the Time Masters, and trained to be Chronos.”  
Rip sat down is his lazy chair and reflected on Gideon’s words. “So the best thing to handle him,” he proposed to his AI, “is to steer clear of any criminal paradises.”   
“I don’t know if that will succeed, captain,” she objected. “You crash-landed in 2046, remember?”  
“True.” Rip bit his lip, plotting other courses of action he could take. As he sat there for a few minutes, his eyelids turned heavy.  
“Go to bed, Rip,” Gideon persuaded him. “A chair is no place to sleep.”  
“But I haven’t…” Rip started to protest.  
“... slept enough to think this through, indeed,” Gideon finished his sentenced playfully.  
Rip grinned. “You’re always a step ahead of me, don’t you, Gideon?”  
“Always, captain. Sleep tight,” she said warmly as Rip walked to his room.  
“Goodnight, Gideon.”

Rip woke up refreshed and full of energy. Last night's analysis really cleared his head. For the first time in, well, his entire hunt for Savage, he had a clear goal.  
He walked over to the kitchen area of the Waverider, where he found most of his crew. Most of them had either a bowl of cereals with some fruit or some bread with eggs. Mick, on the other hand, had a beer and a hotdog.  
"Good morning, everyone," he greeted them as he poured himself a cup of coffee. Martin, Jax, and Ray mumbled something back, while Kendra sobbed. Poor girl.   
"What's the plan, Rip?" Leonard asked. "We're one man down, and lost the dagger. Looks to me that this is going horribly."  
Rip sighed. "That's one way to put it, but yes, things are not going as well as I hoped. The main reason is Chronos."  
"Then we kill that son of a bitch," Mick proposed with his mouth full of sausage.  
"Easier said than done, mister Rory. Thus far, Chronos finds us rather than we find him, and he managed to kill somebody every time we meet him. Therefore, we should make sure that he can't find us, as soon as we finished some other matters.  
First, we need to arrange a funeral for Carter. Would you like to take care of that, Kendra?" She nodded as if she wasn't able to speak.  
"I will help you," Ray quickly added. Rip had expected such. Not only made his heart of gold Ray very predictable, but Rip also remembered the billionaire's romance with Kendra. Whether he knew it himself or not, Ray would try to generate some sparks during the preparation.  
"Alright. If you need any help, please ask mister Rory and mister Snart.”  
“Why us?” Mick objected.  
“Because I want Firestorm to do some research, and miss Lance and I need to do something personal.”  
“What do we need to research, captain?” Martin asked. “Although I highly doubt this research hasn’t been performed in the future,” he added.  
“I’ve been wondering: why does Firestorm always wear its outfit, although neither Jax nor you wear it prior to the merging? Is it part of your abilities somehow? Can you control it? Is it applicable to something else than your clothing?” Rip knew very well that this transmutation could be applied to anything if they had trained enough, but it was important that they learned it as well. In particular without knowing how he knew it.  
“What about you and Sara?” Jax questioned.  
“He’s bringing me back home,” she answered, walking in with a bag over her shoulder.  
Everybody looked puzzled at her. “Wait, what do you mean?” Ray asked. “I thought that, from everyone of us, you were the most enthusiastic about this mission.”  
“Well, not anymore. Not since last evening,” Sara replied wearily. “Please, Rip, can we go?”  
Rip sighed. “Alright, let’s use the jump ship. Oh, and nobody leaves the ship for more than a few meters. That includes the two of you,” he pointed at the two thieves. 

Rip and Sara moved to the jump ship and seated themselves: Rip at the driver’s seat, and Sara at one of the benches behind it. “I didn’t know the Waverider had… this,” she commented.  
“Yeah, it’s a small expeditionary vessel, especially useful when the team needs to split up or the Waverider is too bulky to land somewhere,” Rip explained. “And it’s large enough for the two of us, so no need to take the entire ship with the whole team with us.   
Strap yourself in. We’ll be making a time jump after all.”  
“Should I adjust the course, captain?" the AI asked.  
"No, Gideon, we're doing the same as discussed last evening."  
"Alright, captain. Course plotted for Sedona, January 2019."  
"Ehm, Rip?" Sara asked somewhat insecure, "shouldn't it be January 2016?"  
"Most certainly not, miss Lance," Rip answered as the jump ship took off. "I'm not returning you home, not yet, at least. We're going to resolve last night's issue."  
"Uh, yeah, by returning me home," she parried. "You can't have someone on your team who can murder anyone anytime. I regained my control just in time, but what if it doesn't happen next time?"  
Rip turned his chair around to face the assassin and leaned forward. "Listen, Sara, I don't blame you for yesterday. If fact, the only one who can be blamed is me, for underestimating the risk of your bloodlust. Hence, we're going to cure you of that."  
"How?"  
"You know Thea Queen, Roy Harper, and Nyssa Al-Ghul, right?" Sara nodded. "Those three set out in 2018 and 2019 to destroy all Lazarus Pits around the world. In order to do that, they carry around a substance called the Lotus. This can also counter the side effects of your bath in Nanda Parbat."  
"We'll see," Sara said dismissively.  
Rip turned around to the windscreen. She had been right, he had no idea how much she had been struggling with it. Hopefully, everything would go smooth, he thought. 82% was a little too low for his taste. Gideon's predictions of Savage's locations throughout time had always been higher than 97%. He became restless, there was something he missed. Only he didn't know what.

Rip landed the jump ship a few hundred meters away from the trio's campfire. It was likely at least some knew about Sara's adventure through time, but he didn't want them to see a timeship. He was still a time master after all.  
They left the ship as it entered into camouflage mode, and started walking towards the fire. “That’s not right,” Sara observed, “the fireplace is abandoned.”  
“Well, I’m sure there’s a good reason for it,” Rip replied optimistically.  
They continued walking, as Sara suddenly dropped to the ground. “Just tying my shoelaces,” she commented loudly. But as Rip turned around to face her, he saw her laceless boots. “What are you…” he started, as Sara jumped up and threw a knife from her leg at the person behind them. Rip automatically drew his gun and aimed in the same direction.  
“Is that how you greet an old flame?” Nyssa asked, with the knife clasped in her hand in front of her face.  
“Nyssa!” Sara exclaimed, “I’m so sorry!”  
“Don’t be. This would have kept you alive against lesser opponents. Now, why are you here, and who have you brought along?” she asked.  
Sara gestured Rip to lower his gun. “It’s okay, Rip, this is Nyssa. Nyssa, this is Rip Hunter, and he…”  
“... helps you with curing your bloodlust,” Rip cut Sara’s sentence off as he stared intensely at her. _Don’t mention that I’m from the future._  
“Ah, so you are that time-traveler who took Sara away,” Nyssa said in recognition.  
Rip was baffled. “You told her?” he asked Sara furiously. “I had hoped we could go one day without spoiling time travel is possible.”  
“She didn’t say anything,” Nyssa answered, for which Rip exhaled with relief. “My former husband, Oliver Queen, did." Of course.  
"I will speak to mister Queen when I see him," Rip concluded. "Can we now cure Sara of her bloodlust?"

They walked towards the campfire, where Roy and Thea were now as well. On their way there, Nyssa explained they had set a perimeter with motion sensors, and crossing them would warn them of potential hostilities. She had set out to intercept, whist the others covered other routes from which enemies could appear.   
As they approached the fire, Thea and Roy turned around to greet their visitors. Only Thea stared at Sara as a deer in headlights, and she stared back the same. "Rip," Sara said with a trembling voice, "keep me away from her. Please."  
"Why?"  
"The bloodlust. It… it pulls me to her. I'm afraid I'll lose control and…" She shivered.  
"Don't worry," Rip assured her, "we got you."  
Bollocks. That was why the chance of success was so low. Thea killed Sara, and therefore the Pit’s effect urges Sara to kill her back. “Miss Al-Ghul, would you mind taking miss Lance somewhere else to administer the Lotus?” he requested. “We don’t want miss Queen to fall at Sara’s hands, do we?”  
Nyssa nodded. “Alright. Roy, can you come with me?” Thea also walked towards the former Ra’s, but she stopped her. “Sorry, Thea, you should stay here. It would be too dangerous for you while the Pit’s effects are still present.”

Sara, Roy, and Nyssa walked away as Thea and Rip sat down by the fire. They awkwardly stared at the fire, unable to start a conversation with a total stranger. After what seemed like forever, Thea asked something he didn’t. “Does she know?”  
Rip looked confused at her. “What do you mean?”  
“Did you tell her her sister died, a few months after she left?”  
He sighed. “No, I didn’t. It would only take Sara off the mission.”  
“But couldn’t you take the team back to 2016 and fight Damien Dahrk with team Arrow and your team?” she pleaded.  
“No, I won’t. I’ve researched many possibilities, but all ended with not only her sister dead, but with her father and herself killed as well. Removing her temporarily from the timeline was the best option.”  
Then something buzzed in Thea’s pocket. “What is it?” Rip asked.  
“Someone broke through the perimeter,” Thea replied. "Someone other than Roy, Nyssa or Sara."

Rip stood up and directly saw the intruder behind Thea, approaching with a rifle aimed at them. “Duck!” he yelled as he pulled Thea behind the log. The dirt behind them exploded as the energy blasts hit the ground.  
“Who is that guy?” she asked as she pulled out her bow.  
“You know I said I used to work for that organization? Well, he tries to turn me in.”  
Rip shot at Chronos, which staggered him a bit. Thea’s arrows however only bounced off his armor. “Plan B,” she announced. She took a special arrow from her quiver and aimed for his chest. As the arrow hit his target, the arrowhead broke and release a liquid. Smoke formed in the center of his chest, and behind the cloud bare skin was exposed. Thea jumped over the log with a sword in her hand. Chronos shot the sword out of her hand, but that didn’t stop her. She launched herself at him and kicked him to the ground, thereby losing his gun. Chronos crawled back up, but Thea was faster. She dove under the bounty hunter and clung her arm around his neck, pulling him down. “Shoot him!” Thea yelled at Rip.  
But Chronos laughed. “You won’t kill me, Rip. First, you failed to kill Vandal Savage, then you failed to execute Per Degaton. Does anyone think you would kill your own family?”  
Rip was stumped by these words. He hadn’t tried to execute Per Degaton in this timeline, so how could he know? And Mick isn’t his family, right?  
As Rip was distracted, Chronos elbowed Thea and escaped his grasp. Behind him, Rip heard footsteps approaching them rapidly. Chronos looked behind Rip and disappeared. A moment later, two arrows and a shuriken flew through the air where the bounty hunter had been.  
“Damnit, we’re too late!” Sara exclaimed. “You alright?”  
“A few bruises,” Thea admitted, “but nothing time won’t heal.”  
_Your own family_ resonated inside Rip’s head. Was it someone else who had become Chronos? Who could that be?  
“Rip?” she asked again. “How are you?”  
“I’m fine.”  
“You’re shaking,” Nyssa observed.   
“No, really, I’m fine,” he persisted.  
“It’s what he said, isn’t it?” Thea asked. “You were startled by those words, which allowed him to escape. Since then, you haven’t stopped trembling.”  
Rip remained silent after that.   
“Alright, I’ll make some tea," Roy proposed, "then we can discuss what happened here."

Rip silently nipped his tea as Sara told about the cure. With Chronos’ words still echoing in his mind, he couldn’t really focus on her words, but he understood she no longer suffered from the side-effects. Then the conversation shifted to his side of the story, and he felt his heartbeat rise.   
“What happened here?” Sara asked him.   
He took a deep breath. “Miss Queen and I were just talking when the alarm went off. It was Chronos who walked in with us on gunpoint. We fought, and ultimately Thea had him pinned down with a hole in his armor. But then he confused me and managed to escape.”  
“How?”  
“He elbowed miss Queen, and then disappeared in thin air,” Rip said unknowingly.  
“Did he use Kayakujutsu?” Nyssa asked Thea.  
She shook her head. “No, there was no smoke or diversion. He just … disappeared.”  
“No doubt he got new toys from his bosses,” Rip huffed.   
“But why didn’t you shoot him when you had the chance,” Nyssa questioned him with a raised eyebrow.  
“I already told you, he confused me!” Rip raised his voice.  
“How?”  
Rip started to panic again and found himself unable to speak. Roy noticed. “Rip, you can tell us. When Thea, Nyssa and I set out to destroy the Lazarus Pits, we promised each other to tell if something was on our mind. This way we can rely on each other and help each other if needed. You should tell your story too.”  
“Do you want me to leave?” Sara asked. “I understand you don’t want anyone of your team to know what happened, and just talk to strangers.”  
“No,” Rip said after he calmed down, “I want you to hear it. Gideon already suggested I should let someone in.

First, Chronos mentioned I failed to kill Vandal Savage. I have told this already to my team, so it doesn’t surprise me he knows this. But then he also said that I didn’t execute Per Degaton, but I haven’t even tried that this time.”  
“What do you mean, ‘this time’?” Thea questioned.  
Rip sighed. He knew it had to come out eventually, but the effect it could have on the timeline was disastrous. Then again, him having a second chance could be even more harmful.  
“For me, it isn’t the first time I hunted Vandal Savage down. I also did it eight years ago, with the same team. To save you from a long story, I failed. Other things happened, and somewhat later, I sacrificed myself in order to save the team. It resulted in my memories traveling back to a few days ago, which allowed me to give it another shot.  
In that initial timeline, I tried to execute Per Degaton, who would become a dictator and a stepping stone for Savage to rise to power. You, Sara, talked me out of killing that child, and I’m glad you did.  
However, nobody should know this now, besides you four and Gideon.”  
The group was dismayed by what they heard. “Jeez, that’s ruff,” Roy commented.  
“Was that Chronos guy family of yours then?” Thea asked. The other three looked at her if she was crazy. “What?” she said. “Chronos said that he was. Is he?”  
Rip took a deep breath. “No, in the first timeline, Chronos was not my family.”  
“But you know who he is, don’t you,” Sara interrupted.  
He nodded. “Back then, Chronos was Mick Rory. But I don’t know if he is him this time. It didn’t sound like he was lying, and Mick doesn’t manipulate people like that.”  
“So we can’t take him out in a fight, and we can’t kill him before he became Chronos. How can we defeat him?” Sara asked.  
“You already know, Ta-er al-Sahfer,” Nyssa answered. “If you can’t kill an enemy, weaken him. If you can’t cut off his head...”  
“Take his heart,” Sara finished. “How can we do that?”  
“By destroying the Oculus,” Rip realized. “Of course! Why didn’t I think of that sooner? Thank you, all of you,” he said to Nyssa, Thea, and Roy as he stood up. “Shall we, miss Lance? Let’s remove Chronos’ eye into time.”


	4. Transmuting the Plan

After he and Sara said goodbye to the three archers, they took off in the jump ship and headed back to the Waverider. It would take an hour or so before they rejoined the team again, so now, they had some time to relax.  
“You seemed quite calm when I told everything,” he commented as he turned around to face the cured assassin.  
She simply shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, it explains how you acted till now. It was like you have seen things happen before, and now I understand. You have seen it already!”  
Rip nodded. Sara showed she possessed some great leadership skills by uttering this sentence, which made him think about what he said to Jax. _It occurs to me that future might not involve me being aboard this ship._ He opened his mouth, but Sara came first.  
“But wouldn't that mean Carter's death could be prevented?"  
He winced. "I hoped so. I really did. The first time I went to that mansion, Carter died too. I hoped misters Snart and Rory now would steal the dagger quickly and not get trapped like the first time. That's why I ordered Ray to stay on the Waverider, so he wouldn't screw up the second time. If they returned on time, we wouldn't have to encounter Savage in the chaos."  
"You're not only trying to save your son and wife," Sara noticed, "you also try to save the killed members of this team!"  
"I try if I can,” Rip admitted, but he didn’t count on it. They were at war with an immortal warlord, and it’s impossible to win a war without losing a few soldiers. Mister Snart and mister Hall were a prime example.  
"But why don't you share it with the team? I'm sure some individuals will listen to you where they wouldn't before," Sara persuaded him.  
"No, I won't do that,” he said without a doubt. “It's very dangerous to know your own future, Sara. I thought I knew what would happen at Savage's mansion, but then Chronos showed up unexpectedly. And that's how Carter got killed," he concluded as the guilt pushed on his shoulders.  
“You did what you could,” she supported him. “At least you now know where things could go wrong, so we can act upon it.”  
“We?” he said with a raised eyebrow. “You had something in mind?”  
“Well, yeah,” she sputtered, “you didn’t let me in for nothing, did you?”  
Rip sighed. There was no turning back now. “There are a few things I want to discuss with you. Things the others shouldn’t know.”

“First, I need you to promise you won’t tell the others anything I said while the two of us were gone,” Rip continued agitatedly.  
“Yeah, of course,” Sara replied as if it was the simplest thing in the world. “What’s wrong?”  
“First the easy thing: I want you as secondary captain of the Waverider. Before you protest you’re not fit for it, you already did it great. At least from my point of view,” he added with a nervous smile.  
“I did?” she asked, clearly surprised by this compliment.  
“Probably much better than I have been. To be fair, I was not really a team player, but still. Nobody on this team could lead it better than you.”  
“Wow, thanks!” She was baffled. Two hours ago, she suffered from the bloodlust, and now she is promoted to second in command.  
"Gideon will confirm my words when needed, and you'll get access to Gideon's analysis of my memories when you absolutely need it."  
He took a deep breath.  
"You should know something else about me. When … when I sacrificed myself, I let the time-drive implode. It's the part that allows us to travel throughout time," he added as he saw Sara's puzzled look. "The particles that allow for time travel hit my brain, which made my memories travel back in time. However, the particles also affected other parts of my brain, and nobody knows what can happen to me. Could you please have an eye on me when we're outside the Waverider," he asked, practically begging. He was terrified of what could happen. He hadn't encountered any side effects besides his memories, but he could shake the feeling something would happen.  
Sara grabbed his hand. "Don't worry," she said, "I'll be looking out for you. And we will make sure you see your son again. I promise."

Fifteen minutes later, the jump ship arrived at the Waverider and Rip reattached their vessel to the main ship with Gideon's help. He had done numerous times during his training, and he could practically dream what he should do. This time was no different. He let the gangway bridge the small gap between both vessels and opened up the doors, only to be greeted with a layer of water streaming in.  
"What the hell is going on?" he asked aloud in amazement. He and Sara walked out and bumped into the professor and his other nuclear half.  
“Oh, captain Hunter,” the old man stammered, “we didn’t expect you so soon.”  
“What’s going on, Martin?” he asked again, only now he was more irritated than surprised.  
“It’s quite astonishing, actually,” he explained. “When Jefferson and I merge into Firestorm, the fission generates an enormous quantity of energy, such that Jefferson’s suit changes into the one Firestorm wears. I hypothesized the heat decomposes and restructures the fabric on a subatomic level, which is truly fascinating if I may say so. We experimented on multiple items, and are now able to transmute certain objects into water, being one of the most simplistic molecules in existence. However, it caused a little flood, unfortunately.”  
“Good job, both of you,” Rip replied. “Gideon, did the experiments damaged the ship in any way?”  
“Negative, captain. However, the water may damage some personal property. Do I have your permission to open the cargo door to let the water flow out?”  
“Please proceed. Are miss Saunders and mister Palmer ready with their preparations?”  
“Affirmative.”  
“Then please announce to the whole ship we’re doing mister Hall’s funeral now. We'll be meeting outside.”  
When both men were out of hearing distance, Sara turned to her captain. "You knew already how this worked, didn't you?" she said, to which he nodded. "Please keep the nerd talk between the two of you. You don't have to torture us with your situation," she said with a wink as she walked away.  
Rip laughed out loud. He had missed being part of a team. Last year he had been at odds with both the Time Bureau and the Legends, which was harder than he would like to admit. But now he was among friends again, and things were looking bright. 

The team had dug a hole in the shadow of a large oak. Carter's coffin was positioned next to the grave, and the rest of the team formed half a circle around them.  
He moved to the other side of the circle such that he stood next to Carter's head. As captain, he was expected to say some words during the funeral. Last time, he spoke words of hope; hope he hadn't had before. Those words were heavily in contrast with a speech he had given earlier when he tried to give himself hope. They weren't hopeless now, but Rip found the team could use some anyway.  
He picked up a brown leaf from the ground. "I always found trees fascinating beings. In the spring and summer, they blossom and have their branches full of leaves. But when times get darker, they let them fall. Like this leaf here," he speeched as he turned the leaf in his hand. "But it reminds us that brighter times are ahead. The tree will grow its leaves again and will return to its full glory.  
We may be in a darker time now. Carter has fallen while battling Savage, but the courage he had is an example for all of us. He will resurrect and hopefully, he will join us once more. Don't forget, brighter times are upon us," he concluded, as Kendra wiped away a tear.  
Jax, Ray, Leonard, and Mick lowered the coffin into the grave. Everybody threw a shovel of dirt on the coffin, each saying their last words to Carter.  
"Till next life, my love," Kendra whispered in the end.

Gideon watched over the grave as the team walked towards the bridge. Savage had used Carter's blood in the previous timeline for multiple purposes, and Rip wanted to prevent that he stole the body from the fresh grave.  
As the team arrived on the bridge, they saw a giant hologram floating around the room. "Wow," Ray expressed his amazement at the piece of machinery he saw before him, "what is that?"  
"That, doctor Palmer, is the Oculus," Rip explained. "This gives us a window into time, seeing the timeline and possible future timelines without being present in that time. And I want you to make a device to destroy it safely."  
"Why would you want to do that?" Kendra questioned. "Isn't that a useful tool for us to have?"  
"The Oculus is in hands of the Time Masters. Everyone with a timeship of theirs can use it to look into time. This means every one of them can see where we are in time, including Chronos. And we need to get him off our tail."  
"But how are we going to find our dark lord then?" Leonard asked.  
"I have Gideon already researched the timeline in combination with professor Boardman's notes. And we can always find Savage in 2166."  
"So we burn it," Heatwave proposed.  
"Alas, mister Rory, if only it were this simple. It can be destroyed by using a dead man switch, however, it would mean someone should sacrifice himself. And I don't think anyone here would like to give his life to accomplish the destruction of the Oculus."  
"If it means the death of an immortal dictator…" Ray opted.  
“Let me rephrase that: nobody is giving his life when there are alternatives,” Rip countered the billionaire. “And you, doctor Palmer, are going to find that alternative for me.”  
“Alright, I’ll see what I can do,” he said. He still had thoughts about himself being worthless, and this would give him a chance to change his destiny.  
“Great! Way to go, team,” Rip encouraged his crew. “We’re doing great at pursuing Savage, and we’ll have him dead before you know it.”  
“How?” Snart asked.  
“I’m sorry, mister Snart?”  
“We went to his house to retrieve a weapon to kill him and we failed. Next step in your plan is blinding us from Savage. Even if we are able to find him, how are we going to kill him?”  
Bollocks, he was right. Kendra was able to hurt him last time with the combination of Carter’s mace and her bracelet, but he couldn’t know now. “I’ll think about it,” he stammered. “In the meantime, Sara, could you train Kendra in the use of her mace? And Firestorm, see if you can transmute to other materials. Who knows how we can use your ability.”  
“Try diamonds and gold,” Mick said lustfully for wealth.  
“We … will consider it,” Martin replied hesitantly.

When the team left the bridge, Rip leaned back on the central monitor. “Gideon, you know what to look for.”  
“Do you mean the bracelet miss Saunders wore in her first life, and later was gifted to Savage’s daughter by her father?”  
“Indeed,” he said. He hoped the bracelet could be retrieved in a simpler manner than convincing Savage's daughter. Although it worked the first time around, the risk of confronting Savage without being able to kill him was something they should avoid.  
"I can't find the bracelet after miss Saunders’s first death, captain."  
Rip couldn't believe his ears. "What do you mean, you can't find the bracelet? Scan the timeline again!"  
"I already did, captain. It seems it disappeared from the timeline after the meteor shower."  
"No, no, no!" he yelled. "How could this be possible?" He fluttered around the bridge, putting the tips of his fingers at his temples. "Is there any guaranteed way we could have a weapon to defeat Savage? Can we get the dagger?"  
Gideon scanned the timeline again to no avail. "The dagger is nowhen to be found."  
"So we need to go back to 1975," Rip concluded. "Interact with ourselves yet another time."  
"Negative, captain. Even in 1975, I can't find the dagger."  
How could it be? They had stolen it both times, so it should be there. Unless… "It is removed from the timeline," Rip realized. "Can you find when it was removed?”  
“I’m sorry, Rip, I can’t.”  
How? Why? How can they defeat Savage now? Rip began to pant. What could he do now? He was only making things worse by trying things differently. He should have never done something differently. The previous time, Carter’s and Leonard’s deaths had a purpose, but now … Carter’s death was for nothing.  
He said down against the monitor. Gideon said something to him, but he didn’t listen. He couldn’t listen. He could only think about the failure this mission turned out to be.

After who knows how long, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Sara knelt before him. “Hey, it’s going to be okay,” she said, trying to calm him.  
“How is it going to be okay, Sara,” Rip asked impatiently, “when every goddamn weapon we can use is removed from time? Every object I know that was present at Kendra’s first death can’t be found anymore, hence we have no way to kill Savage!”  
“How about your plan to let Firestorm transmute Carter’s mace?” Sara asked.  
Rip got confused. “Wait, what plan?”  
“Why else would you let them train for it? Together with your explanation on Nth metal, I thought this was your plan all along.”  
His heart stopped pounding in his chest. He hadn't realized the solution was this close at hand. “That could work,” he contemplated. “Gideon, is it possible to kill Savage this way?”  
“I’ve calculated a 95.7% chance this could work, captain. I should, however, warn you it may affect miss Saunders’s ability to reincarnate,” the AI answered.  
So be it. If that would be the only cost of killing Savage, he would take it. “Thank you, both of you,” he expressed his gratitude. But before he could tell the professor his plan, he received a hug from Sara.  
"Don't worry," she said, "we'll save your wife and son. We won't fail you again."

"Woah! I definitely should have knocked" they suddenly heard the billionaire say as he entered the room.  
Rip quickly let Sara go, suddenly being reminded that he had a chance to see his wife again.  
“Relax, Ray,” Sara said, “It was just a comforting hug.”  
“Do you need one? I can give it to you,” he offered. “They didn’t call me ‘Teddy’ for no reason in high school,” he chuckled. And without waiting for an answer, he gave Sara a hug. She looked at Rip, thinking _what the hell?_ as she awkwardly answered it.  
Rip cleared his throat, allowing Sara to escape. “Why did you come here, Raymond?”  
“Oh, yeah, right. I’ve looked at the schematics of the Oculus, and we might have a problem. Gideon?”  
“Right away, doctor Palmer,” she answered as she projected the blueprint of the Oculus a few spots were colored red instead of blue like the rest.  
“The red parts of this blueprint are the sensors of the dead switch,” Ray explained. “They measure temperature, pressure, texture. Basically, they check whether the one using the dead switch is human, and not a robot.”  
“How long would it take to make something to fool those sensors?” Rip asked.  
“Ehh, probably like six months if we’re lucky,” he estimated.  
“Six MONTHS?” Sara asked in disbelief. “Isn’t there another way to destroy it?”  
“I’m afraid not.”  
“Gideon, scan the timeline for any possible solutions,” Rip immediately asked.  
“Already scanning, captain. I understand you would like to avoid 2213?” she asked.  
“If possible, yes,” he answered. He didn’t know how this future would work out, but chances are Sara and Ava would end up together again. Seeing her as an emotionless robot destined to be blown up… there were better ways to meet the love of your life.  
“I suggest reading this article from 2199, captain,” Gideon said as she showed a newspaper article on the monitor.

  
**Clone factory closed for unknown reasons**  


A week after releasing their latest product, ICCAD shuts down all of its offices and factories, CEO Thomas Inimeg writes in an open letter to all of its employees. He states that "new insights on his company's actions" force him to make this decision. However, he doesn't elaborate on which insights resulted in this decision.

ICCAD specialized in making real-life body doubles, commonly used in First Aid training and filming stunt scenes in movies. ICCAD’s latest model allowed for exact copies of living humans, which could be remotely controlled by the original person. Although infrared scanners can see the difference, it is believed this feature caused the closure of the company.

Employees are shocked by the sudden turn of events. "I've worked my entire life for ICCAD," one former employee said online, “and I have never been treated like this. News within the company is always shared before it’s brought outside. But I’ve just seen it, together with the rest of the world. It’s really strange.”

ICCAD won’t be available for a restart, Inimeg reveals. Instead, all the buildings the company owns will be demolished. Data, designs and building materials will also be carefully destroyed. Specialists say that trillions worth of ideas and equipment will be lost this way.

  


As Rip finished reading the article, he grinned to his teammates on the bridge. “Gideon, notify the rest of the team. We’re going to the future.”


	5. Catching up with Time

A few minutes before noon, Rip, Sara, and Ray entered ICCAD’s main office in their futuristic business attire. “I can’t believe people really are going to wear this,” Sara whispered to Rip.  
“Fashion is temporal, miss Lance. People living now laugh at what you two would call fashion. Although I must say I don’t like my clothes either,” he complained as he pulled again at his high collar. He could barely move his neck and arms in his suit, which his two companions experienced the same. He made a mental note not to wear this anymore when he visits 2199.  
As they announced themselves at the reception, a tall, young man approached them. He walked with confidence and a smile on his too perfect white face, as if he had done this million times before. With his shoulder-length black hair and beardless face, Rip recognized him from the news article.  
“Mister Gasmer,” the young man greeted him with a strong baritone voice.   
“Mister Inimeg, pleased to meet you,” Rip replied as he shook the man’s hand.   
The CEO then shook hands with Sara and Ray, to whom he introduced himself. “Thomas Inimeg, CEO of ICCAD.”   
“Caity Lotz, lead stunt coördinator,” Sara said.  
“Brandon Routh, technical advisor,” Ray added. They had discussed not to use their real names in fear of being outed as time travelers. Instead, they used fake names and posed as a film studio, much to the idea of the article and the events after the time scatter in 1942.  
They moved to Inimeg's office where they positioned themselves across the CEO's desk. "So," he said as he leaned forward, "what does a movie company want to do with our body doubles? When CGI is so much cheaper than using our products."  
"Realism, mister Inimeg,” Rip immediately answered. “I’ve found that, no matter how good the actor, people always know when something is faked or not. With an explicit torture scene in it, I want it to be as real as possible, without harming my actors and stunt doubles. That’s why I want to use your product.”  
“Interesting,” the CEO commented. “But I don’t assume you three wanted to talk with me about buying my product when it can be bought online.”  
“Yeah, we want to know some specific details before we buy it. We have a very specific scene in mind, and spending a billion dollars on something that doesn’t work as we like is a bit expensive,” Rip answered. Then Sara took over the conversation with questions on the biological processes of the body doubles, and Ray finished with some of the more technical questions. As he asked his final question, Inimeg’s secretary walked in and whispered something in his ear.  
“I’m sorry,” he apologized as he buttoned up his suit, “I’m afraid there has been a problem which needs my utmost attention. Please wait in my office, I’ll be right back.” Without waiting for further questions, he left the office with his secretary.  
The door closed behind them and Rip turned to the scientist next to him. “Does it work?”  
“I’m sure this will work. As long as the one who is doubled is safe, we can destroy the Oculus without sacrificing anyone."  
"Therefore I can't let you leave," Rip heard a familiar voice say behind him.

* * *

Sara turned around and saw an unfamiliar man standing behind them in the office. How could he sneak up on her like that? And why did he wear robes? Those weren't fashion now, right?  
"Zaman Druce," Rip greeted the stranger hostilely.   
"Hello Rip," the leader of the Time Masters said calmly. "I must say I'm disappointed in you. You're on a rampage through time. You've turned your back on the very institution you were meant to serve. Our job is to protect time, thereby protecting all life. And by trying yet again to save your family, you risk the fabric of time again. But I've already given you this speech, didn't I?"  
Sara looked puzzled at Rip and found himself clueless as well. "How could you know?" Rip asked his former teacher.  
"It does not matter," he simply said. "The only thing that matters is you will be halted. Take him!" he ordered, and Chronos stormed in. The bounty hunter shot a wire from his wrist at Rip, who couldn't react in the tight business attire, and then disappeared with him as Chronos did in 2019.  
Sara shrugged off her coat, revealing her white leather suit underneath, and grabbed her batons. "Where are they?" she demanded.  
"He will be taken to the Council. However, this won't be your concern. The Hunters are already on their way." With that, his hologram shut off, leaving the two Legends alone in the office.  
"Eh, can you explain any of this?" the confused Ray asked.  
"Later, we have to save our team first!"  
Like Sara had done, Ray easily shrugged off his business suit and put on the Atom suit. Gideon had designed their clothing such that they could easily dispose of them in case of a fight. If only it could have saved Rip, Sara thought bitterly.  
They ran towards the entrance only to find the glass security gate closed. Without thinking about it, Sara jumped over it and Ray burst through. They had no time to lose. But before they could go outside, Captain Cold, Heatwave, Firestorm and Hawkgirl entered and tossed three helmets on the ground.   
"Hunt is over," Leonard quipped.

* * *

Rip knew going to ICCAD was a risk. It would be the only opportunity to safely destroy the Oculus, so he expected some interference from the Time Masters. He only didn’t expect Druce to show up. And that’s where he lost his focus and where Chronos could swoop in.  
He noticed Chronos fired something at him. But when it hit his chest, everything went dark. He was still conscious and his eyes were still open, but his vision was pitch-black.  
Rip felt his ankles and wrists being shackled, was forced into a hogtie and was thrown over Chronos' shoulder. He pulled at the shackles, but they didn't budge.  
"We know you better than you think, Rip. Don't even think you can escape from this," the bounty hunter said to the captain's frustration.  
"That makes two, mister Rory," he countered.   
But Chronos laughed. From under the helmet, Rip heard low, hollow laughter. "We'll see."  
Chronos marched easily through the building as if he could see in the dark. Rip on the contrary couldn't see anything.   
His eyes had now adjusted to the sudden reduction of light and he could see the shape of the entrance. They went through and Rip saw the fight between the rest of his team and the Hunters. He saw the laser shots of the Hunters slowly creeping forward. He saw Kendra floating in midair, mace in front of a Hunter his face with electricity crawling over it. It pleased him to see the transmutation to Nth metal had succeeded.  
Chronos noticed his captive could see more than initially. "It's a shame I can't fight them in this state. Would be so easy to kill them," he smirked.  
That comment sent shivers down Rip's spine. "What has happened to you you want to kill them this badly?"  
"I want to make you suffer! Knowing that your 'genius plan' not only killed you but your team and wife as well!" Chronos shouted as he threw Rip on the floor of his timeship. Instinctively Rip put his arms in front of him to break his fall, only to be stopped by his hogtie. His face smacked to the ground and he felt a pressure well up in his nose. Probably broken.  
"What have I done to you," he asked as he struggled to breathe, "for you to hate me? I don't even know who you are!"   
Chronos pulled him up at his hair such that he could look his captive in the eyes. Rip looked back and saw he had removed his helmet. Two cold brown eyes stared back at him, a few inches from his own eyes. They were so close, Chronos' brown wavy hair touched his face. "Don't say you don't know me, father!"

* * *

“Where is Rip?” Kendra asked upon seeing Sara and Ray running towards them.   
“Taken by Chronos,” Sara answered concisely. “The Time Masters somehow knew we were here, so Chronos swooped in and abducted Rip. The Hunters were supposed to kill the two of us, and would have if you hadn’t stopped them.”  
“So you’re outlawed by an organization who can kill you anywhere in time,” Leonard concluded. “Gotcha, I’m leaving.”  
“Wait, don’t you see?” Ray objected. “They didn’t target us specifically. If you would be there with Rip, you would be their target. We’re all outlawed, they will kill us all! We have to stick together in order to survive.”  
Leonard remained silent after that. The CCPD was easy to defy, but he only got out of the hands of the Flash by threatening to expose his identity. Even with his knowledge and intellect, he wouldn't be able to stay out of their hands forever. "So what are we going to do now, Lance?"  
“We stick to the plan. We get the clones and get the hell out of here!” Sara commanded. "Then we can destroy the Oculus and free Rip."   
She walked over to the reception desk, under which the employee had hidden. Sara found her with arms covering her face. "Please don't kill me!" the young woman pleaded.  
“Just get us in contact with Inimeg,” she said coldly, wanting to save Rip as soon as possible.

Getting the two clones was too easy. When Inimeg walked in, he was barely the businessman he was before. He immediately dropped to his knees, begging to be spared. He rattled on and on about that he didn’t know what Zaman Druce was going to do with them, that he always wanted to do business with them, et cetera, et cetera.   
Within a few minutes, they had two clones ready to take with, including an elaborate manual on how to use them. All it took was for Mick to threaten him once, and Inimeg had sent a message to his employees.  
No, the real trouble began when they boarded the Waverider. The clones were dropped in the cargo bay and the team gathered on the bridge. They were silent, having no goal since boarding the time ship in 2016.   
“So …,” Kendra broke the silence after a while, “what should we do now? I mean, we don’t know where Rip is, much less how to free him.”  
“Perhaps Gideon can help us in that matter,” Martin proposed. “Although I suggest we appoint someone as our leader until captain Hunter joins us again. Under the assumption, he will join us again, of course,” he added. “Therefore I volunteer to be your captain.”  
“Oh, so you can not only boss me around but the others as well?” his nuclear counterpart argued.  
“Fine, I’ll do it,” Leonard stepped forward, but Ray didn’t like it.  
“No offense, but the only one who trusts a criminal here is Mick,” he countered. “As an Eagle Scout, I know how to lead a small group of people. So it seems I should be captain.”  
“And you know how to ruin an easy break-in,” Mick added reprovingly. “I trust even the professor more than you, pretty.”  
The insults kicked off a lot of shouting without leading to an agreement. “Guys,” Sara shouted, trying to calm the team down. “GUYS!” But they didn’t hear her amidst the chaos.   
“Do you require assistance, captain Lance?” Gideon came to her help via the comms.  
"Please!"  
"Then I would suggest you cover your ears," the AI advised. Sara put her fingers in her ears and immediately heard a high, sharp siren, even though she covered her ear canals.   
For the rest of the team, it was much worse. As soon as the noise started, everyone dropped to their knees and desperately tried to muffle the sound.  
As suddenly as it started, the noise disappeared, allowing everyone to recover. "What the hell was that?" Kendra exclaimed.  
"I need you all to shut up, so Gideon helped me with that," Sara explained quickly before anyone could mock or insult her. "Listen, Rip already asked me to be his second-in-command in case of him leaving the ship. So we can either fight over it all day long and thereby let him die, or let our captain decide who succeeds him and get the hell out of here to save him!"  
The rest considered her words, recognizing the truth she spoke. "Do you have any support to your claim, Sara?" the professor questioned.  
"Gideon?"  
"Right away captain Lance." The AI projected her and Rip sitting in the jump ship after her cure. It seemed like weeks ago, although it happened yesterday. She saw the stress in Rip's body, even more than earlier. _I want you as secondary captain of the Waverider,_ they heard their captain say before the hologram shut off again. He had been emotionally at his weakest, as he couldn't trust his memories anymore. Chronos suggested he wasn't Mick Rory, the same events were occurring differently, and he was on the run from his bosses again. No wonder he wanted a second in command to fall back on. And now, he was alone without anyone of his team.  
"Anyone any objections?" she questioned as she already moved to the captain's chair. No one spoke. "Alright everybody, strap yourselves in. Gideon, plot a course to the headquarters of the Time Masters and pull up some maps from that place. We're going to save our captain."

* * *

Being rescued wasn’t on Rip’s mind at all. The sudden reveal of Chronos’ identity was keeping his thoughts busy. How could his own son be hunting him down? What have the Time Masters done to his mind into thinking he was the enemy?  
He tried to ask his questions, but they barely got out of his mouth. And even if Chronos heard them, he decided to ignore him anyway. His son, no, the bounty hunter, Rip corrected himself. Although he looked definitely like an older version of Jonas, he still couldn't believe Chronos was in any way related to himself. Thinking about him as Chronos would make things easier, at least he hoped.

They kept traveling in silence until Chronos’s timeship landed abruptly. In the meantime, his vision had fully returned and no longer suffered from Chronos’ weapon. The door immediately opened and Chronos dragged Rip outside, where two soldiers were waiting for them. “Lord Chronos,” the soldier on the left greeted the bounty hunter, “you’re expected immediately at the council.”  
“Take the prisoner there,” Chronos answered coldly as he dropped his captive to the floor.  
Without looking back, he marched to his bosses as the two soldiers picked up the former Time Master. Although he was far from heavy, the two could barely lift him from the ground. “You know, if you untie me, I could walk with you,” Rip opted, but that plan was disregarded.  
“Sorry, Rip, but we have strict orders to keep you tied up,” the soldier replied.   
Bollox. Chronos hadn’t taken his pistol, so he could easily escape if they freed his right hand, but alas. He now had to hope Sara could control the Legends and they would rescue him.

When they finally arrived at the council, Chronos and Zaman Druce stood in the middle of the room, as the other Time Masters watched them from their box. One soldier freed his wrists from his ankles so that he could stand, but he still couldn’t part his legs or raise his hands to fight. And even if he could, he would have to beat both soldiers AND Chronos. No, he couldn’t do this on his own.  
“Rip Hunter,” Zaman said as he raised his voice, “not only have you disobeyed our direct orders, but while doing so, you went on a rampage through time. Therefore you have been found guilty of time-piracy of the first order, and you are sentenced to death.  
However, I’m giving you a choice. Since you were once one of us, you won’t undergo the Omega protocol. But the Pilgrim can kill you here, and it would be quick and painless. On the other hand, we could hand you over to Chronos. Have you met him?” Zaman asked indifferently. “It appears he holds a certain grudge against you and wants you to pay for it. He will make your death very slow and painful.  
I can spare you the torture. Although Chronos would be displeased, I can stop him from torturing you. The only thing you have to do is to answer one question: how did you do it? How did you send your memories back in time?”  
Rip couldn’t believe his ears. “You think that I did that on purpose?” he asked as Chronos punched him with his rifle. “Answer the question, Hunter.”  
“No, you first answer _my_ question: How did you know it happened? Why did you show up at Savage’s house? You weren’t there the first time!” he shouted at Chronos, who raised his rifle again to hit him.  
But Zaman gestured the bounty hunter to stop. “It doesn’t matter if he’s stalling or not; he will be executed eventually. To answer your question, Rip, you gave it to us yourself. We wouldn’t have known if you kept your memories in your brain. But you saved it in a file, outside the Vanishing Point, and therefore we all could see it with the Oculus.  
So we knew the steps you would take, at least initially. That’s why we sent Chronos to 1975, to hunt down your team and consequently take the dagger out of existence. After that, we stripped the murder scene of Chay-Ara and prince Khufu of all potential weapons, such that you would have no way of killing him. But either way, it is over for you. We win.”  
“You win?” Rip asked in confusion, but then he remembered. “Does the rest of the Council know your secondary agenda?” he blackmailed his former tutor. “Do they know you use your position as Time Master to help Vandal Savage rise to power?”

The rest of the Time Council chattered nervously upon hearing his questions. What was he talking about? Did he speak the truth? How did they not know this?  
“Silence!” Zaman ordered. “He’s only trying to confuse you! No, Rip, I don’t have a secondary agenda. Maybe I had in your previous timeline, but not in this one. Times change. Haven’t you noticed Chronos is much more … close to you than before?”  
“Times maybe change, Druce,” Rip answered calmly, “but people don’t. Research Savage’s rise to power, and notice he uses weapons and machines from the future!” he requested.  
“Enough! Your lies will end now! Take him!” Zaman ordered Chronos outragedly. But before the bounty hunter could lay a finger on him, Rip uttered his last threat.  
“Do you think you’re safe when my team comes to rescue me? Even whilst you had the power of surprise and we were divided, we destroyed the Oculus and thereby these headquarters. Your army isn’t strong enough to beat my Legends. The Hunters already failed. We’ve beaten the Pilgrim before. How are you going to stop them?”  
“With the help of your memories,” the Time Master answered wickedly as he pointed behind him. As if they waited for their cue, three men walked into the room. The first wore dark, leather armor and carried a bow. The second wore a formal black suit, which contrasted heavily with his white hair and his shining sword. The last appeared with a trail of red lightning in a yellow leather suit with glowing red eyes. They stood in a small semicircle around him, arms crossed in confidence. “This will be fun,” Eobard Thawne smiled.


	6. A Last Look Into Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be warned: there is some implied torture in this chapter.

_Rip? Rip, can you hear me?_  
Sara? He was still surrounded by the Legion of Doom, Chronos, and his former mentor, so she couldn’t possibly be this close. Unless…  
_Rip, please answer. We’ve arrived in … What was it called, Gideon? … the Vanishing Point to rescue you. Where are you?_  
He couldn’t answer her, not without alerting the others. He could only keep the conversation going while giving Sara as much information as possible.  
“Eobard Thawne, Malcolm Merlyn, and Damien Darhk. Really, Druce? I knew you played foully, but aligning yourself with the Legion of Doom? In particular with a rogue time-traveler? I can’t believe you all agreed to this,” Rip called out to the rest of the Time Masters.  
_What are Merlyn and Darhk doing here? And what is the Legion of Doom?_  
"A rogue time-traveler as yourself you mean?" Druce mocked him. “Quite the irony, isn’t it? You traveled through time yourself to form a nigh-unstoppable team, and you expect we wouldn’t do anything to stop you. Desperate measures invite desperate countermeasures, Rip. I’m sure you understand.” He turned to his allies and said: “Chronos, take him away. And gentlemen, the Waverider is spotted, so take your places to ambush Rip’s team. Let’s clean up this mess for good.”

* * *

_... I can’t believe you all agreed to this_ was the last thing Sara heard before the line became silent. “Dammit!” she exclaimed in the empty library. Her efforts to speak with Rip were futile. She only got a few sentences from him, and none did seem to acknowledge he could hear her. “Alright,” she sighed, “Gideon, can you pull up some information on Eobard Thawne and the Legion of Doom?”  
“Eobard Thawne is a speedster from the 22nd century, and rival of the original Flash, Barry Allen. After his ancestor killed himself in 2015 before becoming a father, mister Thawne was presumably erased from existence. In Rip’s original timeline, a younger version found out and since then he traveled through time to find the pieces of the reality-altering Spear of Destiny with the Legion of Doom: Malcolm Merlyn, Damien Darhk and eventually Leonard Snart. It appears the Time Masters recruited them to kill you.”  
"Did someone call my name?" Sara jumped up and saw Leonard standing at the door.  
“You know, you could ask me if you wanted to know things about me, without going behind my back,” he said judgingly.  
“What do you mean?”  
“First we have Rip who tells no single truth, and if he is telling the truth, he comes with information out of nowhere. Then he is taken, but he suddenly promoted you, who he has known for only a few days, as the new captain. And here you are, researching me behind my back. There is something fishy here and you’re going to tell me what that is.”  
“I’m sorry,” Sara said sincerely, “but I can’t tell you.”  
He raised his gun to her face in reply. Blue sparks ran over the weapon, ready to fire. “I wasn’t asking.”

“You want to kill me, Leonard?” Sara taunted him as she took a step forward. “You really want to shoot me here? You’re not the type who kills someone of his own team. You may be a thief, but you have a clear code, so take the damn shot if you want!”  
They stared at each other in the eye for minutes, gun still aimed at her head. “Listen,” Sara broke the silence, ”it isn’t my secret to tell. It’s about Rip, and he told me that knowing his secrets leads to big mistakes. Mistakes that got Carter killed.”  
“Spit it out, or Mick and I step onto that jump ship you took with Rip and pretend we never boarded the Waverider.”  
And possibly join the Legion of Doom, Sara added in her mind. She couldn’t let that happen, else they would be outnumbered. “Fine,” she gave in, “Gideon, shut the doors. Whatever is said in this room, stays in this room.”  
Sara walked through the room, figuring out what to say. “Uhm …,” she started, “Rip … is … from the future.”  
“Yeah, he told that on the rooftop. What else is new?” Leonard commented sarcastically.  
“No, I don’t mean 2166. He is from his own future, so to speak.” She got a raised eyebrow in response. “Rip lived through this already. Somehow, he got his memories from him eight years in the future. From a future where we defeated Savage, but he couldn’t save his wife or son, and you and Carter died.”  
“Then why didn’t he tell us?” he asked, not even slightly lowering his gun. “Sounds like me a lot of fuss could be avoided. Sounds like he doesn’t trust us.”  
“Carter got killed this time because he wrongly used his memories!” Sara yelled in frustration.  
“So he is an idiot,” Leonard concluded calmly. “Think of me what you want, Sara, but I like being on this team. Even with a goody-two-shoes like Ray. And being part of a team means leaving no one behind.  
Now, you may decide to come up with the plan alone if you don’t trust me. But getting Rip out is like stealing him from those Time people. And I am a master thief. So what is it going to be, Lance?” he finished his speech as he reached out his hand.  
Sara hesitated, but then shook it.  
"What do we know?”

* * *

Rip knew he should have felt hopeful when learning about the presence of the Waverider but rather felt the contrary. His team was about to be slain by the Reverse-Flash and his companions. The only reason they survived them in the battle for the Spear of Destiny was because of Thawne’s hubris. He wanted them to suffer by using the Spear again, so he knocked them down instead of killing them. But Druce would know that, so the Legion would know. No stalling this time, Rip thought bitterly.  
Chronos was still dragging him to the torture chamber, but the nagging feeling of not being able to do anything felt worse than any torture he could imagine.  
_Rip?_ he heard Sara say in his ear, _can you hear me?_  
Bollocks, he was in no position to talk. Maybe he could…? “Yeah,” he whispered.  
“What was that, Hunter?” Chronos snapped at him.  
“What do you mean?” he played dumb.  
“Why were you talking?”  
“I … wasn’t? Maybe you heard me breathing?”  
The bounty hunter huffed. “Don’t think you can play tricks with me, or even distract me. Even if you escape me, you still have to go past the Legion of Doom and the Time Masters' army. There is no way you leave here alive.”  
_Okay, we understand you’re not alone. Please give us as much information as possible. Leonard and I are putting a plan together._  
Leonard? He was surprised to learn she trusted him enough for them to work together like this. But as he thought about it, it wasn’t as crazy as it seemed. Sara always sought out the good in people and in his first timeline, Leonard became more and more heroic the longer he spent time on the Waverider.  
They turned around the corner and ended up in a familiar room. “The cells,” Rip commented aloud, on purpose of course. “Don’t you have a special torture chamber, Chronos?”  
“I’m not sadistic, Rip. I don’t take pleasure in tormenting random people. You’re just the exception.”  
“Why? Why am I the exception? What have I done you want to torture me?” Rip basically screamed. It has been said numerous times now he wanted to torture him, but not once a reason was given, much to Rip’s annoyance.  
Chronos scoffed. “You tell me, Rip. Don’t you remember? Why could your own son turn against you?!”  
He couldn’t think of anything until suddenly a vision played before his eyes. Or was it a memory?

_Rip stood in the middle of a burning city. The sky was filled with smoke, which glowed red from all the fire. He could see the Elizabeth Tower in the distance, or rather where it should have been. The clock with the Big Ben has been blown from its footstool, as a pile of bricks indicate where it should have been._  
_His vision moved to the worst sight he could imagine. Vandal Savage was standing on a pile of bricks and bodies. He was alone, none of his soldiers near him, whilst Rip saw most of his team surrounding the immortal. But right in front of Savage, with a knife on her throat, was Miranda._  
_Rip saw his arm pointing a gun at his adversary, at his wife. Savage was saying something, but he heard no sound. And then, then, Rip shot. He shot Miranda through the heart._  
_Next he looked to the side and saw his son, looking in disbelief at him with watery eyes._

"No," Rip gasped. "It can't be!"  
"Yes, Rip," Chronos said angrily, "you killed my mother. And for that, I'll end you."

* * *

Sara did a final check on her weapons in the cargo bay as she waited for Kendra. Her collection shurikens were in one pocket, a spare foldable bo staff in the second. She grabbed her regular bo staff from the wall, decoupled it, swung them quickly around, and reattached them.  
Kendra walked down the hall into the cargo bay, dressed in her hawk warrior outfit. She already wore her helmet, but Sara still could see her wide eyes. Moreover, she held her mace way too high to swing it effectively.  
“You okay?” Sara asked her. “You look nervous.”  
The demigoddess sighed. “Well, we’re about to fight two members of the League of Assassins, one who was the leader, and one who almost became the leader. I can’t understand you’re calm under all of this!”  
“I trust my skills, and I trust you," Sara answered. "I’ve had years of training, while Malcolm probably is a bit rusty. And I have a friend with four thousand years of experience and a superior weapon. We can do this.  
And besides, there is a reason why I let the four others go to the Oculus. They have to draw out the big gun, so we can sneak in.”  
“You mean the speedster.”  
Sara nodded.  
“Why don’t we ask the Green Arrow and the Flash for help, actually? They have fought these guys before.”  
Kendra asked a good question, one Leonard asked too. But it wouldn't work well. “It would take too much time to go back to 2016 and return here. By that time, I don’t expect Rip will be alive.” Sara paused for a moment to calm her teammate. “Listen, Kendra, we can do this. Trust me.”  
“It sounds like you’ve already beaten him,” Kendra said partially to herself.  
Well, in a weird twisted way, I already have, Sara thought.

Soon after, the rest of the team met the two ladies. “Everyone clear on the plan?” Sara revised.  
“Ray and I fly out and create chaos, and with the help of Leonard and Mick, we drive the army back. Then you two can escape and rescue Rip, while we secure the Oculus,” Jax stated as the rest nodded.  
That was a relief for Sara. As long as Snart followed his part of the plan, they would make it. “Gideon, what is the status outside?”  
“One hundred foot soldiers are positioned outside the Waverider with their guns aimed at the cargo bay,” the AI answered. “I don’t detect any other weapons.”  
“Alright, Gideon, open the door.”  
As the door opened, the cargo bay was greeted with a hail of gunfire. Red lasers hit the wall, fortunately, without ricocheting to any of them. Ray shrunk down, Firestorm merged and the two flew out. The hail immediately decreased as the screaming outside began. The two thieves nodded to each other and silently climbed out of the door, aiding the Atom and Firestorm in their fight.  
Kendra and Sara sat kneeling down by the door, waiting till they could slip away. “Birdies, you’re up,” Mick said through the comms.  
“Birdies?” the ladies asked themselves but got up nonetheless. They had no time to lose. They sprinted out of the Waverider and ran towards the entrance of the headquarters. Shots flew around their heads, but somehow they got safely inside, where they caught their breath.  
Sara peeked around the corner and saw everything was going according to plan. Gideon camouflaged the ship and flew up, out of reach for any malevolent individual, and the guys were headed to the Oculus. All soldiers were laying on the ground, some of whom were still burning. None would cause trouble for them any time soon.  
Sara turned around and continued with Kendra their way to Rip. They found a few soldiers guarding the halls, but none were a threat. Sara disarmed them with her shuriken, Kendra sent electricity from her mace, or they just charged in when the distance between them and the soldiers was short enough.  
After ten minutes of fighting through simple soldiers, they arrived in a large, empty room. The next room would be the cells, Sara remembered. Would it be this easy to free Rip?  
But then Kendra’s mace fell out of her hands, and Sara barely deflected the arrow aimed at her.  
“Are these really the ones we have to kill?” Damien asked with a poorly acted disappointment to his two companions. “I thought they would be tougher.”  
“Don’t worry gentlemen,” the speedster answered. “Once we’ve killed these insects, we’ll have fun outside.”

* * *

The way to the Oculus was barely guarded, Leonard thought. Besides the soldiers stationed outside the Waverider, they barely got any resistance. A handful of soldiers, which weren’t any better than the average cop.  
“Guys, I think this is a trap,” Ray commented alarmingly as they entered the reactor. “They can’t let us blow it up like this, right?”  
“That’s because Rip and the ladies are still there. We can’t blow it up without blowing them up, pretty,” Mick said.  
“We can do something, right?” Jax asked desperately.  
“Raymond, start with the procedure to blow it up. We’ll guard you against any soldiers or legionnaires,” Leonard ordered as he discussed before with Sara. He pressed on his comm to activate it. “Lance, how is it going?”  
_Blow the damn thing up!_ she ordered. _The entire Legion is here, we are not going to make it._  
Shit, that was bad. He wanted to refuse the order. Sara was right he wouldn’t leave anyone behind. But chances are the ladies wouldn’t be alive when they got to them.  
_I’m not bluffing, Eobard,_ Sara continued. _We may not be able to save Rip, but we will still free the world from the grasp of the Time Masters. And as a bonus, you wouldn’t survive it either._ After a short moment, she added: _Speedster incoming!_  
He grinned. She bloody did it: splitting the Legion into teams she wanted. “Look alive, gentlemen! Our speedster is coming.”  
Firestorm flew up, and his partner pointed his gun at their entrance. He looked at the other entrance, making sure both routes to Ray were covered.  
The sound of MIck’s fire reached his ears, and he knew he was too late. He turned around, but found himself in another room, with the speedster’s glowing red eyes inches away from his face. No sign of his teammates or the Oculus.  
“I think you’ve run a bit too far, Speedy,” he taunted Eobard Thawne, who laughed at him.  
“Leonard Snart. They said you had a particular sense of humor,” the speedster responded. “Miss Sara Lance picked that up, I saw. Calling us a Legion,” he laughed. “Across time, legions were always larger than three. But I view myself as an open-minded individual. Would you like to join?”  
“A job invitation? I’m sorry, I gotta pass,” he declined. “I already have a team.”  
“Ah, yes, those wannabe heroes. A boy scout, an egocentric professor, and a time traveler with no moral compass to name a few. Quite a team you have.  
What do you want, Snart? Be Central City your criminal empire? Merlyn, Darhk and I are searching for a reality-altering device, and we need someone with your skills. If you help us, you get your wishes fulfilled.”  
Lisa. He wanted Lisa to have a normal youth, without an abusive father. But Thawne didn’t know. He still thought he was the cold criminal he was when he first met the Flash.  
A thousand thoughts went through his mind until he finally made a decision. “I’m in, as long as my partner is in too. Bring me to the rest.”

* * *

Sara couldn’t believe it worked. Though she discussed it with Leonard in advance, the call to blow up the Oculus nonetheless made sure the Reverse-Flash left them alone. But there were still two adversaries between them and Rip.  
“Any preference Damien?” the Dark Archer asked.  
“Give me the one in white, you take the demigoddess.”  
He hadn’t stopped talking or Malcolm shot arrows at Kendra. She quickly flew up and circled around him dodging the arrows, but she couldn’t get close. Sara ran over to Malcolm to help her teammate but was cut off by Damien Darhk. “Not so fast, Sara Lance.”  
“You know who I am?”  
“Don’t be surprised, you know who I am too. You are clearly aware of Rip’s memories.”  
“So you know I’ve beaten you before.”  
“And I know I have killed your sister, Laurel Lance, the Black Canary,” he added as Sara felt her blood creeping away from her face.  
“You haven’t!” she screamed in anger.  
“Not yet, maybe, but it is destined to happen. You know, maybe after I finished killing you, I will go straight to 2016 instead of 1987 and kill her too. Show her your body before I drop both of your bodies at your father’s door.”  
“You won’t!”  
“Then try to stop me,” he provoked her, and she happily took the offer. She decoupled her bo staff into batons and furiously attacked the would-be killer of her sister. He easily dodged her swings, occasionally blocking one of her batons with his sword, until she was out of breath. “My turn,” he said as he showed why he was heir to the demon. Sara had to keep all hands on deck not to be sliced apart by her opponent. She caught the sword with crossed batons, but she was pushed on her knees. Damien used his length to push her down even further. A small peek behind his back revealed Kendra was hit with an arrow in her wing and was laying on the ground.  
They were going to die here, she realized. She accepted her fate and closed her eyes. 

* * *

Rip had been beaten, cut, burned and electrocuted. All strength had left his body, he only waited to be killed off.  
Chronos raised him at his throat and took a long knife. “Say hi to Miranda for me,” he said as he slowly pushed the knife from under his ribs to his heart. But the bounty hunter stopped after an inch as he began to flicker. “What is happening,” he asked in great distress.  
Rip began to laugh hysterically. He couldn’t help it, but he knew what was happening. “You’re messing up your causality,” he got out between bursts of laughter. “I have not yet killed Miranda, thus you’re not yet created. Killing me will kill you,” he said as he continued to laugh.  
“No, no, NO!” he screamed as he continued to flicker. He quickly released Rip’s bonds and dragged him to the next room. Chronos shot twice and then left. “See you in 2166 then, Rip,” he said before Rip passed out. 

* * *

As sudden as he was removed from the hall, as suddenly he was again at the Oculus. Thawne stood slightly before him to the right, enjoying that Ray, Mick, and Firestorm aimed at him. “What is this, Snart?” his partner asked him.  
“I thought you were with us!” Ray exclaimed.  
Leonard saw the pained faces of his team. “I’m sorry, fellas, but Eobard Thawne gave me an opportunity I couldn’t refuse,” he said as he pulled the trigger of his gun. All looked in amazement at what happened, as the man in yellow was slowly encased in ice.  
“Eh, can anyone explain what happened,” Jax asked.  
“You genius bastard,” Mick celebrated. “You double-crossed him, didn’t you?”  
Leonard nodded. “I have a team now, and I won’t abandon them for a weak offer. How far are we with the dismantling of the Oculus, Ray?”  
“Almost done. You only have to press this, and when you are ready to detonate it, connect these two wires,” the billionaire instructed. After a small pause, he continued. “Well, who is going to do it? Nobody thought about using the clone, did we?”  
“I’ll do it,” Leonard immediately volunteered.  
“No,” his partner objected, “I’m not leaving you behind.”  
“Who do you think used the clone while Sara debriefed you, dumbasses? Now take my gun, and go back to the Waverider!”  
Ray took the cold gun and Firestorm took Mick, and they flew away to the ship. “Sara, Kendra, Rip. Status,” he requested through the comms. 

* * *

Sara prepared herself that her skull would be split open. Instead, she felt the pressure on her batons disappearing. She opened her eyes and saw Darhk being shot in the stomach. She quickly knocked him out with her batons, and Kendra did the same to Merlyn with her electric mace. She looked around the room for the shooter, she saw Chronos leave the room. With newfound strength, she wanted to follow him, but then saw her captain lying motionlessly on the ground.  
“Rip!” she yelled as she knelt down next to him. He wasn’t conscious, but he was still breathing. She was amazed he was still alive as his business coat from 2199 was drenched in blood. “We need to get him to the Waverider,” she said to Kendra. They both took one arm and hang the captain over their shoulders.  
_Sara, Kendra, Rip. Status,_ Leonard said through the comms.  
Sara pressed hers in as they continued walking. “We’ve got Rip, but he is badly hurt. Prepare the medbay for him.”  
“Just take your time, it’s not like an army is coming at me now,” he said scornfully. “I’ve snatched a gun of one of the fallen goons, but that won’t hold them off forever.”  
“I’m coming to you, Sara,” Ray offered.  
“Hurry!” both Leonard and Sara yelled.  
A minute later, the Atom picked Rip up and flew away. Now they didn’t have to carry their captain, the ladies ran to the ship. It was docked again when they got outside.  
“I’ve got to do it now Lance,” they heard in their comms. “I’m sorry.”  
“Wait! Don’t do it yet,” Sara ordered, but she didn’t get an answer. Dammit. With Rip unconscious and Snart at the Oculus, she was the one who had to make the tough decision. “Gideon, take off, but leave the cargo door open. Firestorm and Atom, be ready to catch Kendra and me.”  
“Are you crazy?” she asked her in disbelief.  
“No, just desperate.” The Waverider flew down below them as Sara pulled herself with Kendra off the floating road as the headquarters exploded. With an extreme amount of luck, they fell through the small opening in the ship, into the two men who were waiting for them. 

The team met an hour later in the medbay. Sara and Kendra had recovered from their fight and Mick had freed Snart from his cloning pod. Meanwhile, Rip had regained consciousness, though he still laid down in the chair to heal from his torture.  
“Thank you all,” he said with tears in his eyes, “for coming to rescue me. You truly are the best crew a captain could ever hope for.”  
“No problem,” Sara answered. “We’re now headed to 1958, where you located Savage in Oregon. We …”  
“No,” Rip interrupted her. “That won’t work. We have no choice but to face Savage in 2166 first. It’s the only way.”  
“Don’t let Chronos in your head, Rip,” Leonard urged him. “That manipulative bastard doesn’t know your future.”  
Rip sat up straight with a face contorted with pain. “I’ve seen the vision myself, mister Snart. I saw us in London as Savage held a knife over my wife’s throat. I saw myself killing her.”  
The team went silent. “But Rip,” Ray tried to comfort him, “you don’t know it has to happen. They could’ve lied to you.”  
“No doctor Palmer, it has. Because my son was there, and if I don’t kill my wife, he will never become Chronos.  
Gideon, plot a course for London 2166. Let’s get this over with.” 


	7. When Past becomes Present

Sara sat in the lazy chair in the captain’s office, thinking about what Rip just said. Chronos was right, back in 2019. He was indeed family of Rip; she didn't doubt that. But she couldn't believe that Rip has killed - or will kill - his wife. Or that Jonas would instantly become Chronos, destined to hunt his father.  
What would she have done, if her father had killed her mother? Before the Queen's Gambit, she was rebellious, careless. She stole a lot, mostly to get attention from the wrong boys. But she didn't kill. That thought had never crossed her mind before Nanda Parbat. Then why would Jonas do that?  
"A normal person would say 'a penny for your thoughts', but then I would lie," Leonard approached her. He leaned against the doorpost as he waited for Sara to answer.  
"Yeah, just thinking about what Rip said," she explained. "I just can't imagine anyone would kill their father or wife."  
"I can," the thief said nonchalantly. "I've killed my dad a few months back."  
She couldn't believe her ears. "Why?" she said as she sat straight up. And how can you be so easy about it?  
"He wasn't exactly dad of the year, so to speak. He abused me and my sister, and once planted a bomb in her neck so I would help him. The moment I knew my sister was saved, I shot an icicle through his heart."  
"Jeez, I'm sorry," she said. Her family wasn't perfect either, but that was nothing compared to the Snart family. "Do you know how he got to be that way?"  
"He wasn't a very good thief, got arrested and put in jail for stealing the Maximillian Emerald. Served five years. After that, he wasn't the same anymore. I was old enough to take care of myself, but Lisa … she wasn't.  
You know, I could have changed it. Thawne asked me to join his club, back at the Oculus. Said he was after a reality changing spear, which could change anything the user wanted. I was this close," Leonard held his thumb and index finger an inch apart, "this close to joining."  
"But you didn't," Sara remarked.  
"No, 'cause we had a deal. But after we've encountered Savage in 2166, I take the jump ship and stop my father from going to jail. And you won't stop me," he said with a sharp tone before walking away. It was clear he didn’t come to her for some light chatter.   
She reconsidered what Leonard had said. He had killed his father after being exposed to his father's hits and anger for a long time. Had his father been kind to him, Leonard wouldn’t have killed his father.   
If they could keep Jonas away from traumatic events, maybe he wouldn’t become Chronos, she thought hopefully. "Gideon, is it possible to take Jonas away from the fight?"  
"I'm sorry, miss Lance, I believe captain Hunter has already tried it before reaching out to you. In addition, it may cause harm to time itself. I am not programmed with the knowledge to predict what will happen."  
"Then let's find the nerds who can."

"This is utmost fascinating," Martin exclaimed as he searched through Rip's library for the right books. "Studying the effects of time travel on the very fabric of time itself, when I thought not long ago that time travel would be impossible."  
"Do I need to leave you and Ray alone?" Sara asked the two scientists sarcastically. The old man had a habit of drabbling on when he found something ‘fascinating’, something she wasn’t very interested in.  
"No, I'm good, miss Lance, I'm good."  
"Can we keep Jonas from the battle?"  
"I'm afraid that won't be possible. See, if we prevent both the deaths of Jonas and Miranda, we would become subject to a Grandfather's paradox," the professor tried to explain to her, but she only got more confused. She wasn't dumb, but she wasn't close to Martin's level either. She had never heard of a paradox.  
Ray intervened, trying to simplify it for her. "The Grandfather's paradox is when you travel back in time to kill your grandfather. The problem is, you do it before he gets his wife pregnant from one of your own parents. You couldn't be born this way, so you couldn't travel back in time to kill your grandfather in the first place. So if we save Miranda and Jonas, Rip wouldn't recruit us and hence we can't save them."  
"What will happen?"  
"I presume there will be some sort of self-healing," Martin thought aloud. "It may very well be possible we are not able to save any of them. Or that we will seize to exist once we save them, but the impact on time itself would be catastrophic I presume. Do bear in mind we destroyed the Time Masters, with all the consequences it brings.”  
“Well, better get to it,” she instructed them before she walked away. “Find a loophole that won’t ruin the world, before Savage decides you’re too late.”

Sara marched back to the captain’s office. She wasn’t confident at all Martin’s and Ray’s efforts would pay off, so she would delve into another option. One that wasn’t used often in any of the timelines, one that wouldn’t have scientific books about it.  
But before she got there, she heard voices coming from the office.  
“We miss you,” she heard a young boy say.  
“And love you,” a woman added, which the boy repeated.  
She turned around to see Rip stare at a hologram of a woman and boy. “Is that your son,” she asked, although she knew the answer. The boy looked a lot like his father.   
But Rip didn’t answer her question. He just kept staring at his deceased family. “When I first set out to save them, I looked at them to give me hope when I hadn’t any. But now … it only reminds me of the task we will fail.”  
“You don’t know that,” she tried to give him hope. “Ray and Martin are looking into the possibilities, and if that fails, we can always use the Spear of …”  
“No!” Rip said. “We won’t use it. It’s too dangerous.”  
“But…”  
“No, Sara! The last time the Spear was used, you and I were the only ones of this team to survive its changes. The Spear has a will of its own. If your will is too weak, you will lose control. So please don’t consider it again,” he pleaded with a slight double tongue. He lifted the bottle of scotch, which was only half full, but Sara quickly took it away.  
“Alright, Rip, I get it. You lost hope. You’re drunk. But I haven’t given up hope yet. I promise you we won’t use the Spear, but we will save your wife and son.” Rip wanted to protest, but she cut him off. “Now you need to sober up and take some rest. When you wake up, we will save your family.” And without waiting for a response, she walked away.  
“Thank you, Sara,” Gideon said.

* * *

Rip woke up in his lazy chair with an indescribable hangover. It eased the pain his memories caused yesterday but unfortunately gave a new pain in return.  
“Here,” Kendra reached a bottle to him, “drink this.”  
He gladly took a sip and enjoyed the cold water slowly flowing down his throat. “Thank you, Kendra,” he said.   
"No problem," she said calmly. "Sara told me how she found you, and in what state you would wake up."  
Rip grimaced. Of course, she did. He prepared himself for the lecture that would come.  
"Listen, Rip, I understand you're feeling hopeless," she comforted him. "In the 206 times I reincarnated, I've thought numerous times: why are we doing this? Why are we fighting if Savage kills us every life? Hell, I even said it to Carter before we decided to join.   
But Carter believed that one time, things will be different. So I have to believe it for him, and with this team, I think it will be different. And you should believe too. Everyone on this team wants you to reunite with your family."  
"Even mister Rory?" he mocked.  
"Even that hard, alcoholic criminal," she said with a smile. "Now, you should shower and get dressed in clothes that aren’t drenched in your own blood. We've got a family to save."

Initially, the hot water of the shower was torture on his scars. But as he got used to the heat and pressure of the water, Rip became more at ease. The last shower he took seemed a lifetime ago. It was right before they went to ICCAD, when he was full of hope of saving his family.   
Maybe Kendra was right. Why has it changed? Maybe he couldn’t save his grown-up son anymore, but he could save the son and woman he loved. And if he saved his son, he wouldn’t become Chronos.  
He got out of the shower, told the team to meet him in five on the bridge, and got dressed in his usual attire. He grabbed two guns with holsters, put one on each side, and finally donned the coat Jonah Hex gave him.  
When he arrived at the bridge, most of the team was there already. But to his surprise, the two thieves were absent. “Gideon, connect me with mister Rory and mister Snart.”  
“Right away, captain.”  
“Gentlemen, you should be on the bridge by now,” he stated through the comms.  
“Sorry, cap, but we’re visiting the city now. It’s really beautiful this time of the year,” Leonard said nonchalantly.  
Rip couldn’t believe his ears. “Why the hell are you off the ship?” he demanded, but all he got was silence. “I asked you a question!” he shouted, but still no answer. He turned his comms off. “Bollocks! To hell with them!”  
He turned to the rest of his team. “Anyone else thinking of pulling out?” he challenged them as he looked the remaining five into the eye. Sara looked away, but before he could lash out to her, Martin interrupted him.  
“I’m sure we wouldn’t be standing here if we didn’t want to help, captain. Please, what is your plan to engage Savage?”  
Martin was right, he had no reason to be angry at them. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have projected my anger for them at you. I should be thankful you are here,” he apologized. “To answer your question, Martin, I overreacted when I told Gideon to head immediately to 2166. I haven’t got the time to come up with a proper strategy, and we can't go back to buy us some extra time. Best we can do now is to go to the place where I found the bodies of my wife and son. Stay low, stick together, and we will get there safely. And then… We’ll see,” he said desperately.

“Oh my god,” Sara exclaimed as they sneaked through the ruins of London. Everywhere on the streets lay the lifeless bodies of numerous citizens. Rip became nauseous at the sight of the city around him. Savage’s forces clearly didn’t discriminate between men, women or children.   
“Are …” Kendra tried to ask him, but she couldn’t finish her question.  
“My wife and son among them?” Rip finished it for her. “I don’t think so. I can’t see them, and they should be somewhere else if I can trust my memories. We should better keep moving.”  
They met a few groups of soldiers on their way, but they caused no problem. Only a day ago, they had practice at the Vanishing Point against greater numbers, so working together as one team wasn’t a problem. But Rip knew the real danger had yet to come.  
Soon they arrived at the place of Rip’s vision: the place he had found their bodies eight years ago, with the destroyed Elizabeth Tower in the background.  
“So, what are we going to do now,” Ray asked nervously. “I mean, are we going to wait here for Savage? He isn’t here.”  
“You don’t have to wait, mister Palmer,” Rip heard a too familiar voice. “I’ll send you to your death now if you so please,” Savage said as he arrived. Five soldiers marched behind him, pushing Jonas and Miranda forward.  
“Dad!” exclaimed the former in tears. His son was scared to death. No child should experience such horrors, but Jonas did.  
“It will be alright, Jonas,” Rip tried to calm him. “Just calm down, and everything will be alright.”  
Savage clearly enjoyed this moment. “Ah, even at the hour of your death, you lie to your family and friends, Gareeb? The Time Masters told me in which ways you hide the truth from them.”  
“You work for them?” Kendra asked startled.  
“Chay-Ara, my love, good to see you. As a matter of fact, I do work for them. They helped me to become the ruler of this world, which I almost am. The only thing I had to do for them is saving the world from an alien invasion, and sacrifice a few pawns: captain Hunter’s wife and child. And there is no better time than now, right before his eyes. Kill them!” he ordered his soldiers.

But before any of the five soldiers could shoot, they were hit by an ice ray. “Sorry, never understood the rules of chess,” Leonard joked.  
“Mister Snart, your timing is impeccable,” Rip praised him.  
“Where is Mick?” Sara quickly asked.  
“We had our differences, so we parted ways,” he answered, to which Sara nodded. Rip had no idea what was going on between Leonard, Mick, and Sara, but now he didn’t have the time to think about it.   
Savage had grabbed Miranda and held a knife on her throat. “Don’t hurt her!” Jonas yelled as he ran forward to save his mom. The Legends quickly closed the circle around Savage. He may be able to kill her, but he wouldn’t get away.  
“Jonas, stop!” Rip yelled at his son. “You only get yourself killed!”  
“Do you really think it will matter, Rip? You have no way to kill me. All items at Chay-Ara’s first death are erased from time by your bosses. So you may beat me, but you will never kill me, and I will have my revenge.”  
“Former bosses, actually,” Sara intervened. “We blew them up.”  
“That’s right, Savage,” Rip added. “You don’t have any backup from them anymore. There is no way to tell if you can prevent the alien invasion. And Firestorm made a new weapon for miss Saunders, one that is able to kill you. Bottom line: it’s over. Let my wife and son go,” Rip demanded.  
Vandal Savage looked at Sara and Rip, listening for any lies. But even after four thousand years of practice, he didn’t hear any. He realized his goal of prosperity was doomed to fail.  
“You know, Rip, it was never personal,” he growled, as he became angry for the first in a long time. “It was only the way to guarantee I could save the world. But you went back to 2016, messed everything up and thereby damned your world. So our planet’s demise and your wife’s fate will be your responsibility,” he said while pressing his knife tighter at Miranda’s throat. “Surrender. Lay your weapons down, unmerge, take the robot suit off. Give me your timeship and full access to all its capabilities. In return, your petty lives will be spared, including the ones of your wife and son.”  
“And then what?” Kendra taunted. “No matter how much you change time, I will never love you!”  
But Vandal chuckled. “I have a far greater understanding of time, my dear. I only have to visit a few places, and then I’ll be the ruler of this world with you by my side, and I will save it. What were those, Rip? Chicago, 3000, Camelot, 507 and the moon, 1970?”  
Rip grew pale. Those were the exact locations in time the pieces of the spear were. When Savage got them together with his own piece at the Waverider…  
But he saw his wife and son. After all those years, they were within reach. The only thing he had to do was giving up this life as a Time Master, and Savage would release his wife and son.  
But what would Savage do when he had the Spear? Rip had lived through one Doomworld already, being the playball of Eobard Thawne. Living through another would be literal hell.  
“Well, what’s it going to be, Rip?” Savage taunted. “Or do you need to be convinced a little more?” he said as he pressed his knife a little harder into Miranda’s throat. A small stream of blood flowed down over her skin.   
Rip had made his choice. He raised his arm, although his scars protested, and shot at Savage’s head, peeping out from behind his wife. But his trained marksmanship failed him. Rather than the head of his opponent, Rip hit his wife’s chest, and Miranda’s body fell lifelessly out of the tyrant’s grip. “No!” Jonas yelled with tears in his eyes. “You murderer!” he screamed at his father as he ran off into the city, escaping the arms of Sara and Leonard.  
What had he done? He set out to save his wife, and now he was the one who killed her.  
Savage laughed. “I guess that’s a no. Fine, I’ll take the Waverider from you the hard way.” He drew two knives, but didn’t take into account he was severely outnumbered. Rip, now filled with pure rage, emptied his rifle at his adversary. Savage stumbled back, until Sara threw her bo staff between his legs, making him fall backward. Leonard shot at Savage’s legs, freezing him to the ground and Firestorm and the Atom flew to his arms, holding them in place. He tried to escape, but he found he couldn't move.  
Kendra slowly walked towards the helpless Savage, readying her mace. “Goodbye, my love,” she honed as she swung her weapon with everything she had at his face.

* * *

Through his scope, Chronos saw the scene play out exactly as he remembered. Rip’s team was standing around Savage, who held his mother in his grasp. His younger self stood a couple of feet away from her, being scared of Savage. Little did he know he would eventually be on the same team as the immortal who threatened his mother.  
Though he had trained for lifetimes, his heart sped up as the moment he could kill his father came closer. And there was finally the fatal shot. His mother went limp in Savage arms as he dropped her. His younger self ran away, unknowingly running towards his ticket to revenge. The revenge he could take now. Chronos laid his finger on the trigger of the rifle and aimed.  
But before he could shoot, the rifle was kicked away. Chronos rolled to his side, rose on his knee and drew his sidearm, aiming it at his attacker: Mick Rory.  
But before he shot, he saw the person standing behind him. “Mom?” he said in disbelieve.  
“Yes, Jonas,” she said. There was no anger in her voice. No fear. Just compassion. “I’m alive. You don’t have to avenge me anymore.”  
He dropped his gun out of his hands. How was this possible? He had seen her die at the hands of his father, a mile away from them. How could she be standing here next to him, alive and well?  
But that meant he had become Chronos under false pretenses. Layers and layers of brainwashing, based on his hatred for his father, dissolve into nothingness. All the targets he shot, he thought of them as Rip, but it was unjustified. But that meant…  
“Come with me,” he ordered his mother and her bodyguard as he grabbed his gun and ran off to his younger self. “We have to save me from becoming me.”

His whole life was a lie. From the day his father presumably killed his mother, he trained for one purpose: kill his father and save his mother. But now he had seen his mother standing in front of him, he didn't know anymore. The Time Masters were gone, and his personal mission was at an end. His goal in life was gone.  
The only thing he could do now was moving his younger self from the path he had walked. He ran, not even caring if Mick and his mother followed. They probably couldn't help anyway.  
He ran through the destroyed streets of London. He bumped into three soldiers of Savage's army, but he didn't stop. He shot behind his back and left them screaming behind him.  
He turned around the corner and saw the woman with his younger self. "Pilgrim," he yelled. "Give the boy to me!"  
She didn't seem impressed. "Chronos. They said you were an idiot. You know that taking him will end you? Or is your brain too small for that? That is **if** you could take him from me."  
"My life was a lie anyway. At least my death will have the right cause," Jonas said as he charged in for a fistfight. The Pilgrim simply twisted her wrist, and his body froze in time.   
"Give me back my son," Rip yelled as he landed with Kendra. Firestorm and the Atom landed with Sara and Leonard, closing the circle around the Pilgrim. But she put her palms outwards again and froze the rest too.  
"Kid, do you still want revenge on your dad?" she asked the young Jonas. Chronos saw the doubt in his younger self's eyes. "Come, I'll give you some time to think, in peace," she said as she pushed him towards her ship.  
Bollocks, they were losing him. Every one of them was stuck, couldn't move as they were frozen in time. Unless…  
He pushed the button on his suit, changing his movement through time. He had used it as a last way out, both in 2019 and 2199. He couldn't interact with items moving at a different speed through time, but by changing his time dilation to the Pilgrim's, he would be able to fight her.   
She didn't see him coming. Without having the problem he had with the Legends in 2199, he jumped at her, pulled her away from the boy and shot her through the stomach into her heart.  
Rip's team moved again as the Pilgrim fell on the ground. He heard his mother scream his name in the distance. His younger self turned around and ran at her in tears.  
He wanted to approach his father but felt his legs collapse under him. He felt himself becoming lightheaded, although he wasn't losing any blood. His father appeared in his view and removed his helmet. "Jonas," his father whispered to him.  
"Dad," he tried to speak, but barely any sound escaped his lips. He no strength anymore to raise his hands to his father.  
"It's okay, son," he said calmly with watery eyes. "It's gonna be okay."  
Jonas fought to remain conscious, but he was rapidly losing the battle. His parents hang over him, and he saw the gratitude in their eyes.  
"Daddy, who is that?" the boy asked at the hands of his mother.  
"A hero," their father answered as time finally caught up with him.

* * *

Rip had never thought he would shed a tear at the sight of Chronos being erased from time, but he felt them roll over his cheeks as the former bounty hunter dissolved into nothingness in front of him. Miranda put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him, which he gladly grabbed. He slowly got up, eyes still locked on the spot his son had lied.  
He ultimately could look away, into the eyes of his wife. He put his hand on her cheek, caressing it as if she was a mirage. “Is it really you?”  
“Come here, you fool,” she said with tears in her eyes as she pulled him to her. And then for the first time in eight years, he felt her soft lips on his again. He felt her hair on his face again. Underneath the malodor of smoke, he smelled her familiar fragrance. He finally had his wife back. Rip lustfully answered his kiss, forgetting everything but Miranda. Time slowed down for them, as the kiss went on for forever.  
At least, until they heard someone clearing his throat. He saw that many of his team looked away from him and Miranda. “If you’re done devouring your wife, maybe we should make sure we don’t get killed off,” Snart remarked in his usual sarcastic way.  
“Right, we have that manner at hand,” Rip said. He totally forgot that if he were honest. He took his spare gun from under his coat and handed it out for Miranda to grab. “Ready for one last mission, Luitenant Coburn?”  
“I’m ready, Captain Hunter,” she grinned.

With the full team together, they rounded up the remaining soldiers with ease. They soon met the resistance, who took Savage’s forces prisoner such that they could pull back to the Waverider.  
Rip walked to the Waverider, hand in hand with Miranda, who held Jonas. He wasn’t letting her go now he got her back. His team followed a few meters behind them. They didn’t want to disrupt the lovebirds, and they could handle themselves should Savage’s army had any stragglers.  
He pressed a button and the Waverider appeared again in front of their eyes. The carbo bay opened, and as they walked in, they heard Gideon through the ship’s speakers. “Welcome back, miss Coburn,” she greeted her. “By the way, I took the liberty to put the champagne in the refrigerator, captain.”  
“Somebody said we could drink?” Mick Rory, of course.   
“For once, I agree with your proposition, mister Rory,” he said. “Let’s go to the kitchen!”  
The bottles were quickly uncorked, much because Sara wanted to show off she could do that with her batons. She filled nine glasses and got apple juice with bubbles for Jonas.  
“Friends,” Rip began his speech with an arm over his wife’s shoulder, “thank you all for what you have done. Every single one of you was integral in this mission. If anyone of you had decided to not come along, I don’t know if we would be here, celebrating. Your skills, your powers, but most of all, your personalities brought us here.   
But I have to ask, not that I’m complaining, but I saw Miranda die. How is she still alive?”  
“Ah, our little trick,” Ray beamed. “Martin and I researched the options we had while you were recovering from the Vanishing Point. Your wife had to die, else past you couldn’t find her body, recruit us, and time would fold in on itself. But better was if she appeared to be dead.”  
“So Mick and I set out to your wife and convinced her to clone herself here on the ship,” Leonard continued. “She can throw a punch by the way.”  
“What would you do when two thugs enter your house,” she quipped back.   
“Point taken,” he admitted. “So anyway, I met up with you guys, while Mick escorted Miranda to here. She was ‘killed’, and they met our buddy Chronos who wanted to kill you.”  
“And then you called me through the comms, saying you were alive and that we could save our son,” Rip said to his wife as he kissed her at the side of her head.  
“So what are we going to do?” Sara popped the question. “I mean, are we going back to 2016?”  
Rip took a deep breath. He wanted to celebrate without having to think about the future, but it was too important not to. “The world, here in 2166, is in peril. It has to be rebuilt before the Thanagarians invade us in nine years. Savage was right he was elected by the Time Masters to unite the world and save it from the alien invasion.   
And there is another problem: time is unprotected. By eliminating the Time Masters, Time pirates don’t have to fear any jurisdiction. It will take a few years before a new organization is operational, and in the meantime, someone else has to protect history.”  
“Why don’t you take this group and protect it?” his wife suggested. “I’ll found a new organization.”   
“Are you sure?”  
“Yeah, why not? It’s not like there are other Time Masters left to do it.”  
Rip knew it was the only way. “You are right, as always. But I hate the idea being separated from you again.” He turned to the rest of the team. “Then I would like you all to join me on the crusade to protect the timeline, this time without false pretenses. But I understand if you want to return to your old lives. I assure you there will be no hard feelings. As I said, I am most grateful that you risked your life to save my family.”  
Sara, Ray, Jax, and Martin immediately decided to stay on the Waverider, and to his surprise, Mick and Leonard made the same decision. That left only one person without an answer. “Kendra?”  
“I’m sorry, Rip, but I won’t be part of this crew anymore. Carter and I joined to get a life without being chased by Savage. And now, we finally have a chance. I want to thank you all for helping to achieve this goal. You saved multiple families, not just Rip's. But I would like to have a normal life now.”  
Rip nodded. “We will do that next morning. But now we celebrate,” he exclaimed as he raised his glass.  
Thank you, Jonas, Rip sent his thoughts to the erased bounty hunter as the group toasted. You are truly a Legend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and sticking until the end! I hope you liked it

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I came up with the Goodwin bosons as an explanation for time travel. I choose the name to pay homage to one of the creators for the character 'Waverider' in the comics: Archie Goodwin. Unfortunately, there are no particles that make time travel possible in real life.


End file.
